Anthropological Approaches to Unfinished Migrations: Arenas of Memory as a Site of Social Metamorphosis in the Atlantic Era

This thesis examines sites of memory as critical arenas for analyzing social metamorphosis, cultural bereavement, and movement within the African Diaspora. Focusing on Valongo Wharf, Gadsden's Wharf, La Maison des Esclaves, and Cape Coast and Elmina Castles—prominent maritime trade ports developed during the transatlantic slave trade—this study explores how these spaces have evolved into international sites of remembrance and return for diasporic communities. The African Diaspora has been shaped through voluntary, involuntary, and forced migrations and was profoundly impacted by the transatlantic slave trade. The trade is widely recognized as the most violent and expansive forced involuntary movement of people in human history because of its geographic scope and the magnitude of people kidnapped, traded, and sold into slavery. For this thesis, I am focusing on the descendants of those traded through these ports as subjects of social metamorphosis. This research investigates the processes of social transformation that emerges through contemporary engagements with these historic sites. The role of loss in the making of the African diaspora is emphasized in this work as it highlights the call to redemption, rebirth, and return. Rather than measuring the success of these endeavors, this study focuses on recognizing key moments of cultural and social transformation. Drawing from anthropological scholarship, it considers how Afro-descendant communities navigate cultural, historical, and geographical dimensions to reconstruct narratives that more accurately represent their collective past and present circumstances.