In search of a post-transatlantic slave trade dwelling and conviviality: rethinking Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’ with Ama Ata Aidoo’s The Dilemma of a Ghost (1965)

Abstract

Drawing on hooks’ notion of ‘homeplace’, Ahmed’s theorisation of ‘strange encounter,’ and Sharpe’s rumination on Black being ‘in the wake’ or afterlife of slavery, this paper reflects on how Aidoo’s The Dilemma of a Ghost can help examine the ‘Year of Return’ project in terms of dwelling. The paper argues that Aidoo’s play proffers a pedagogy of intercultural communication and a radical deconstruction of home and kinship. By noting Aidoo’s emphasis on intercultural communication, home, and dwelling, the paper demonstrates how the ‘Year of Return’ can be conceptually enriched and pragmatically organised in ways that seriously consider Aidoo’s ethic of dwelling. The paper is, therefore, a corrective to the overemphasis in the ‘Year of Return’ celebrations on trade, capital, and investment. Finally, the paper sheds light on the relationship between literature and society.

Keywords:

• African diaspora
• conviviality
• dwelling
• Ghana
• Year of Return

Acknowledgement

Thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and suggestions which have contributed greatly to shaping this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of Ethics

The research was approved by University of Cape Coast College of Humanities and Legal Studies. At the time this study was conducted, the authors' institution did not require ethical approval to be sought for this type of research.

Notes

1 The first of its kind was held in 2016, when thirty-four (34) Afro-Caribbeans were granted Ghanaian citizenship.

2 see https://www.yearofreturn.com.

3 See https://visitghana.com/tag/ghana-2020/.

4 See https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/september-2020/beyond-year-return-africa-and-diaspora-must-forge-closer-tie.

5 See Saidiya Hartman’s Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route (2007) especially Chapter One ‘Afrotopia’ on the disappointments and frustrations of returning to Ghana.

6 See https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2015/african-americans-resettle-africa.

7 See https://www.dirco.gov.za/diaspora/definition.html.

8 See https://au.int/en.

9 See Bosiwah, Abrefa, and Asenso An entymological study of the word ‘aborofo’ (Europeans) and its impact on Akan language (2015) where they discuss the linguistic origin of the word ‘aborofo’, the plural form of ‘obroni’.

10 See https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/34-african-caribbean-diasporans-granted-ghanaian-citizenship.html.

11 See https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2019/November-28th/akufo-addo-confers-ghanaian-citizenship-on-126-diasporans.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no direct funding for this paper