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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Metissage in nineteenth century Senegal: hybrid identity and French colonialism in a West African town |
Author: | Jones, Hilary |
Year: | 2012 |
Periodical: | Afrika Zamani: revue annuelle d'histoire africaine = Annual Journal of African History (ISSN 0850-3079) |
Issue: | 20-21 |
Pages: | 1-20 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Senegal |
Subjects: | racially mixed persons identity 1800-1899 |
Abstract: | The development of 'métis' society in Saint-Louis du Senegal from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century offers an opportunity to investigate transformations in race, social class and gender identities for a West African coastal community that was linked to the Atlantic World in one respect and the French empire in another. Senegal's 'métis' lived in-between white and black worlds, their sense of identity was rooted in the particular history of signareship, the presence of Islam in the Senegal River valley and town residents' decision to opt for loyalty to France over sovereignty under the Wolof kingdoms. Being 'métis' in late nineteenth century Senegal did not involve a linear progression of cultural assimilation to France or generic mixing. Rather, the 'métis' population developed a sense of dual identity grounded in the hybrid cultural environment of the towns that could be employed at key moments in response to the changing realities of life in a West African society under French rule. Bibliogr., notres, ref., sum in English and French. [ASC Leiden abstract] |