Forgetting to heal remembering the abolition act of 1807

Emma Waterton; Laurajane Smith; Ross Wilson; Kalliopi Fouseki

doi:10.1080/13825571003588403

Forgetting to heal remembering the abolition act of 1807

Emma Waterton^*, Laurajane Smith, Ross Wilson, Kalliopi Fouseki

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article investigates the cultural memory of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. It examines official government responses and considers how these were replicated in popular culture, drawing on the film Amazing Grace. The study highlights the rhetoric employed to distance the past of the transatlantic slave trade from the present, thereby contributing to a process of historical erasure rather than tackling the lingering social and political affects of a traumatic past.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	23-36
Number of pages	14
Journal	European Journal of English Studies
Volume	14
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13825571003588403
Publication status	Published - Apr 2010

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Forgetting to heal remembering the abolition act of 1807

Abstract

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