Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
Description
My paper titled 'Devolving the Black Atlantic' performs a 'devolved' history of Black Atlantic studies with regard to Scotland. Since 2007 there has been an explosion of interest in Scottish connections with the black Atlantic.; this sudden rise in interest confirms the long absence of such issues in narratives of Scottish history and identity. Firstly, it considers the layers of amnesia which delayed full recognition of the black Atlantic in Scotland. Secondly it surveys more recent forms of memorialisation including historiographical scholarship, museum exhibitions, theatre performances, talks, novels, television documentaries, walking tours, and gigs. There are currently a number of groups seeking to perform the recovery of memory in Scotland in a variety of ways- race-based, class-based, and religious. This paper considers these competing modes, notes the benefits and pitfalls of a devolved approach, and considers how this recovery of the black Atlantic might impact on Scottish narratives of identity in the present.