The Igbo Diaspora In The Era Of The Slave Trade

The Igbo are one of the most populous ethnic groups in Nigeria and are perhaps best known and celebrated in the work of Chinua Achebe. In this landmark collection on Igbo society and arts, Toyin Falola and Raphael Chijioke Njoku have compiled a detailed and innovative examination of the Igbo experience in Africa and in the diaspora. Focusing on institutions and cultural practices, the volume covers the enslavement, middle passage, and American experience of the Igbo as well as their return to Africa and aspects of Igbo language, society, and cultural arts. By employing a variety of disciplinary perspectives, this volume presents a comprehensive view of how the Igbo were integrated into the Atlantic world through the slave trade and slavery, the transformations of Igbo identities and culture, and the strategies for resistance employed by the Igbo in the New World. Moving beyond descriptions of generic African experiences, this collection includes 21 essays by prominent scholars throughout the world.

Examines aspects of the history, society and Atlantic Diaspora connection of the Igbo people of the Bight of Biafra hinterland. The large presence of the Igbos in the Americas and the role of enslaved Africans of Igbo origin were important in shaping the larger history of slavery, patterns of enslavement and new identity formations in the Americas. In this regard, the intellectual contribution of this most famous Igbo son, Olaudah Equiano, is of great importance to discourses on the history of slavery in the Americas.

Afigbo sheds light on a dark corner of social history that has largely been neglected by historians."--BOOK JACKET.

Sometimes the Diaspora Begins at Home F. Ev’one yaY a.k.a. Felton Perry This manuscript addresses the participation of some continental Africans, i.e., indigenous members of various linguistic, religious, and cultural communities who aided and abetted the European slave traders during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (TAST). They committed innumerable acts of kidnapping on their neighbors with whom they coinhabited the African continent’s sub-Saharan regions: Western, Central, and to a lesser extent, Eastern. There exist in some current societies the memory of ancestral involvement in past enslaving activities for which they have created ceremonies and graven images to atone for their forbearers’ predatory practices. Many of the abducted unfortunates, besides being incorporated into the TATS, were sold into other slavery systems as well. The Trans-Saharan, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the ubiquitous African internal networks for which there is very little verifiable documentation translated into English. This lack of written records reflecting the number of humans absorbed into these systems means that there will never be an accurate total of all who were ensnared; however, the European slave-ship captains maintained fairly good ship logs of their slave purchases for the duration of the TAST era. While deficient in some aspects, they nevertheless provide a general accounting of the human trafficking business from the mid-fifteenth century of the dawning of the twentieth century.

The collective significance of the themes that are explored in Slavery in the Global Diaspora of Africa bridge the Atlantic and thereby provide insights into historical debates that address the ways in which parts of Africa fitted into the modern world that emerged in the Atlantic basin. The study explores the conceptual problems of studying slavery in Africa and the broader Atlantic world from a perspective that focuses on Africa and the historical context that accounts for this influence. Paul Lovejoy focuses on the parameters of the enforced migration of enslaved Africans, including the impact on civilian populations in Africa, constraints on migration, and the importance of women and children in the movement of people who were enslaved. The prevalence of slavery in Africa and the transformations of social and political formations of societies and political structures during the era of trans-Atlantic migration inform the book’s research. The analysis places Africa, specifically western Africa, at the center of historical change, not on the frontier or periphery of western Europe or the Americas, and provides a global perspective that reconsiders historical reconstruction of the Atlantic world that challenges the distortions of Eurocentrism and national histories. Slavery in the Global Diaspora of Africa will be of interest to scholars and students of colonial history, African history, Diaspora Studies, the Black Atlantic and the history of slavery.

Addresses issues relating to the gender, ethnic and cultural factors through which enslaved Africans and their descendents interpreted their lives under slavery, thereby creating communities with a shared sense of identity. The focus of the book is on the ways in which identities were formulated under slavery and the ways in which the struggle to escape slavery and its legacy continued to affect the lives of descendents of slaves.The introductory essay explores an approach to the study of the African diaspora that looks outward from Africa and places the following chapters, written by leading aurthorities from Europe and North and South America, in the context of the theoretical literature.

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 2,0, University of Trier, course: The African Diaspora in North America, language: English, abstract: This term paper will deal with the culture shock of African slaves who came into contact with European imperial society. They, being forced to journey to the Americas, must have had to endure and process many cultural conflicts. The journey's impact will provide the basis to investigate on a possible double identity being created by the slaves to arrange with their new culture, as well as with their cultural heritage. Olaudah Equiano’s The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African will serve as an important resource for this purpose. To begin, the European culture in the 18th century will be looked at. Especially the European attitude towards other cultures will be of interest. Afterwards it will be set into contrast with the culture of the African tribes. A special account will be taken to compare historical data to Olaudah Equiano’s descriptions of Igbo culture and the theme of culture clash will be examined. Included in this, the phases of culture shock will be explained. In the following section, I will look at cultural similarities between British and African societies, based on accounts of Equiano’s Interesting Narrative. Evidence of his assimilation to European culture will be used when attempting to demonstrate his European identity. Having clarified this, a closer look will be taken at how culture and identity are connected. Following that, an attempt will be made to explain the creation of identity. Focusing on Equiano, the circumstances of developing a double identity will be investigated. Finally, Equiano’s case will be used to explain the progress and stages of double identity throughout his life. Of course, it is arguable, whether Equiano actually came from Africa or was born in the Americas. However, this is no matter of investigation in the present paper. Nevertheless, it shall be considered by the reader. Still, in this paper Equiano’s report of African life shall be taken as it is. For the purpose of exploring his historical accuracy, I have added the historical account of African nations to either verify or disprove his observations. Disregarding of how accurate Equiano’s historical insides will be, his report unquestionably reveals the effects of cross- cultural encounters on the individual’s identity.

"This volume builds on and extends current discussions of the construction of gendered identities and the networks through which men and women engage diaspora. It considers the movement of people and ideas between the Caribbean and the Nigerian hinterland. The contributions examine Africa in the Caribbean imaginary, the way in which gender ideologies inform Caribbean men's and women's theoretical or real-life engagement with the continent, and the interactions and experiences of Caribbean travelers in Africa and Europe. The contributions are linked as well through empire, discussing different parts of the British Empire and allowing for the comparative examination of colonial policies and practices."--Back cover.