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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies

11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands


'Rising from Our Ashes': Negotiating a Heritage of Conflict in Sierra Leone

Panel 13. Memory and Heritage in Post-conflict Societies
Paper ID123
Author(s) Basu, Paul
Paper No paper submitted
AbstractThe master trope articulated in the report of Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is that of 'rebirth'. By seeking to create 'an impartial historical record' of Sierra Leone's conflict, the hope is that the 'lessons of the past' can be learnt, and out of the crisis of civil war can be born a new, peaceful and just nation-state. This paper considers the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as one site among many at which Sierra Leone's heritage of conflict is constructed, narrated and negotiated. It explores how various cultural heritage initiatives attempt to 'bury' certain memories of the past while revivifying others in an attempt to instil a unifying sense of cultural pride.