Portuguese Architecture and Luso-African Identity in Senegambia and Guinea, 1730-1870

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Periodical article

Title:	Portuguese Architecture and Luso-African Identity in Senegambia and Guinea, 1730-1870
Author:	Mark, Peter
Year:	1996
Periodical:	History in Africa
Volume:	23
Pages:	179-196
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	West Africa Portugal
Subjects:	ethnicity international trade architectural history History and Exploration colonialism Architecture and the Arts
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/3171940
Abstract:	In the course of the 18th century Luso-African communities from Sierra Leone to the Gambia lost their position of commercial dominance. But the characteristic 'Portuguese' style architecture was still associated with them in European travel narratives. During the 19th century French and British traders supplanted the Luso-Africans in the Gambia and the Casamance (Senegal). These Europeans contested the 'Portuguese' identity of the Luso-Africans, who were then drawn into a discourse on identity. In this discourse, physical appearance played a central role. The 'Portuguese' rejected the European labels 'Negro' or 'noir', but ultimately the terms of the discourse on identity shifted to accord with European parameters. By the end of the 19th century, the French in Senegambia no longer responded to Luso-African claims to be 'Portuguese' or 'white'. Rather, the remnants of the Luso-African community were simply categorized together with the rest of the African population. In the same way, Luso-African architecture was no longer seen as 'Portuguese'. Notes, ref.