Making history: Performances of the past at the 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts

Ruth Bush

Making history: Performances of the past at the 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts

Department of French

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter in a book

Abstract

The staging of African history at the 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar marked a decisive shift from conference panels, round tables, and the dense columns of intellectual journals, to popular, experiential modes of cultural exchange on an unprecedented scale. This article considers that shift through analysis of three theatrical performances: Amadou Cissé Dia’s portrayal of national hero figures in Les Derniers Jours de Lat Dior; the site-specific Spectacle féerique de Gorée, scripted by Haitian poet Jean Brierre and performed daily on Gorée Island throughout the festival; and Wole Soyinka’s satire of dictatorial power and historical inertia, Kongi’s Harvest. Particular attention is paid to traces of audience reception and aspects of staging gleaned from the festival’s official archive and press dossiers held in the Senegalese National Archives. Against the official, Senghorian, discourse of cultural unity, this article highlights contemporary frictions between an imagined pan-African past, present, and future.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Performing Pan-Africanism
Subtitle of host publication	The First World Festival of Black and African Culture, Dakar 1966: contexts and legacies
Editors	David Murphy
Place of Publication	Liverpool
Publisher	Liverpool University Press
ISBN (Print)	9781781383162
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2016

Publication series

Name	Postcolonialism across the disciplines
Publisher	Liverpool University Press
Volume	20

Research Groups and Themes

Centre for Black Humanities

Keywords

Senegal
Dakar
Wole Soyinka
Lat Dior
Theatre
Festivals
History
Pan-Africanism
Senghor

Handle.net

Persistent link

Culture, race, and the welfare state: the British contribution to the 1966 First World Festival of Black and African Culture
Bush, R., 1 Jun 2019, In: Research in African Literatures. 50, 2, p. 19-34 16 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Open Access
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3 Citations (Scopus)

344 Downloads (Pure)

Professor Ruth A L Bush
- ruth.bushbristol.acuk
- Department of French - Professor of Comparative Literatures and Cultures
- Migration Mobilities Bristol
Person: Academic , Member

Cite this

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abstract = "The staging of African history at the 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar marked a decisive shift from conference panels, round tables, and the dense columns of intellectual journals, to popular, experiential modes of cultural exchange on an unprecedented scale. This article considers that shift through analysis of three theatrical performances: Amadou Ciss{\'e} Dia{\textquoteright}s portrayal of national hero figures in Les Derniers Jours de Lat Dior; the site-specific Spectacle f{\'e}erique de Gor{\'e}e, scripted by Haitian poet Jean Brierre and performed daily on Gor{\'e}e Island throughout the festival; and Wole Soyinka{\textquoteright}s satire of dictatorial power and historical inertia, Kongi{\textquoteright}s Harvest. Particular attention is paid to traces of audience reception and aspects of staging gleaned from the festival{\textquoteright}s official archive and press dossiers held in the Senegalese National Archives. Against the official, Senghorian, discourse of cultural unity, this article highlights contemporary frictions between an imagined pan-African past, present, and future.",

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Making history: Performances of the past at the 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts. / Bush, Ruth.
Performing Pan-Africanism: The First World Festival of Black and African Culture, Dakar 1966: contexts and legacies. ed. / David Murphy. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016. (Postcolonialism across the disciplines; Vol. 20).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter in a book

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Making history: Performances of the past at the 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts

Abstract

Publication series

Research Groups and Themes

Keywords

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Research output

Culture, race, and the welfare state: the British contribution to the 1966 First World Festival of Black and African Culture

Profiles

Professor Ruth A L Bush

Cite this