Return and future in African and Afrodiasporic tourism in Dakar, Senegal

• Grant number: 22/04078-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: João Felipe Ferreira Gonçalves
• Grantee: Carla Brito Sousa Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/00893-2 - Implied Pasts, Desired Futures: Black tourists in Dakar, Senegal, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the production of historical narratives and collective identifications by different agents involved in the Afrotourism in Dakar, the Senegalese capital. By setting a dialogue and adding to the anthropology of history, Afro-diasporic studies and the anthropology of tourism, the project seeks to understand how local institutions, tourism workers, and tourists from other parts of Africa and the African diaspora build historical narratives on different scales. Thus, through them, how they shape imaginations of collectivities such as "nation", "Africa", "diaspora", and "humanity". The research will focus on the tourist activities carried out at three main tourist attractions in Dakar, all of them strongly related to the representation of African and Afro-diasporic history: the Island of Gorée, the African Renaissance Monument, and the Museum of Black Civilizations. The research will consist of participant observation in the three places; semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with visitors, tourism workers and employees of local institutions; and archive research to a lesser extent.