ch. 1. The Amistad story in the American context -- ch. 2. Slave revolts and the production of identity -- ch. 3. The Amistad returnees and the Mende Mission -- ch. 4. Sculpting history : African American burdens of memory -- ch. 5. National identity : the dramatic return of memory in Sierra Leone -- ch. 6. Hollywood images, African memories : Spielberg's Amistad and Sierra Leone culture and politics
Summary
"The story of the 1839 revolt on the Amistad slave ship gained new prominence with Steven Spielberg's 1997 film, which helped make the American public more aware of how the history of slavery has defined racism in the United States. As Iyunolu Folayan Osagie shows, the perspective for someone born in Sierra Leone is markedly different. Osagie digs deeply into the story to show the historical and contemporary relevance of the incident and its subsequent trials and how they together contributed to the construction of identity in both Africa and the United States."--Jacket
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-174) and index
