Processus de patrimonialisation et mise en tourisme des mémoires collectives de l’esclavage à l’île de Gorée

Abstract

The painful memories of slavery continue to arouse controversy in the public arena and in civil society. They have played a central role in the universal declaration of human rights, inspiring the notion of « attack against human dignity » by Victor Schœlcher in 1848. Some succeeded in being established in public debates, expressed in commemoration, monumentality, school education and artistic production, and others have been classified as World Heritage of Humanity, after a long struggle of denunciation, indignation, protection and promotion of those who recognize themselves there. This is the case with the collective memories of the slave trade in Gorée, which will be discussed in this article. The latter proposes to study the process of heritage creation and the development of tourism memories of slavery in this « memory island », symbol of human exploitation. Therefore, it seeks to examine memory policies, identity claims and tourism practices that may result.

Keywords

• Patrimonialization
• Setting in tourism
• Memories
• Slavery
• Gorée