Manifestations of Colonial Modernity in Asante: Kumase Public Parks and Town Hall as Symbols of "Civic Pride," 1901-1960*.
Transforming Africa's urban environment became the preoccupation of colonial administrators from the 1920s onwards. Ceremonial grounds, sports parks, and town halls emerged within the context of modernizing postconquest Asante society. Kumase's public spaces and buildings enabled the colonial regime...
| Published in: | International Journal of African Historical Studies Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 297 - 328 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Trustees of Boston University, acting through its African Studies Center
2023
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=175735538&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 175735538 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03617882 IAF jtl: International Journal of African Historical Studies issn: 03617882 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2023 vid: 56 iid: 3 pid: 945 pub: Trustees of Boston University, acting through its African Studies Center artinfo: ui: 175735538 ppf: 297 ppct: 31 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 5.7MB tig: atl: Manifestations of Colonial Modernity in Asante: Kumase Public Parks and Town Hall as Symbols of "Civic Pride," 1901-1960*. aug: au: Manu-Osafo, Manuel Jojo Bob-Milliar, George M. affil: University of Ghana, Legon-Ghana Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi-Ghana su: Public spaces Social control Colonial administration Modernity Social space Collective memory Civic leaders Halls (Buildings) Kumasi (Ghana) sug: subj: Kumasi (Ghana) Public spaces Social control Colonial administration Modernity Social space Collective memory Civic leaders Halls (Buildings) keyword: Asante ceremonial grounds colonial modernity Kumase parks public monuments public spaces social control urban ab: Transforming Africa's urban environment became the preoccupation of colonial administrators from the 1920s onwards. Ceremonial grounds, sports parks, and town halls emerged within the context of modernizing postconquest Asante society. Kumase's public spaces and buildings enabled the colonial regime and traditional authorities to ritualize power and legitimatize the aspirations of colonialism. We argue that public spaces were instruments of subtle social control through which colonial elites consciously cultivated meanings and ideas meant to sprout in Asante society desirable Western values. Based on the theoretical conceptions of place, social space, and social memory, we contend that Kumase public spaces were instruments of political control. The public events staged by colonial officials were advertised as social and leisurely. The Asante officeholders embraced the social configurations engineered through colonialism because a rich context of public performance of power and grandeur existed in Asante's past. We use the cases of the Prince of Wales Park, Sir Francis Jackson Park, and the Prempeh Assembly Hall to validate our claims. The involvement of Asante society in social and leisure activities of the colonial state raised "Britishness" to respectable levels in Kumase. The ceremonial and sports parks became sites where the colonial administration celebrated its power and where African nationalists re-asserted their self-determination. These places were also where civic leaders delivered speeches, and politicians sought votes. The transformation of public spaces for the benefit of the city's inhabitants provided legitimacy for the colonial administration. British control over Asante society remained tenuous and fragile. Therefore, the colonizers and the colonized had different understandings and appreciations of colonial modernity. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of International Journal of African Historical Studies is the property of Trustees of Boston University, acting through its African Studies Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: International Journal of African Historical Studies holder: Trustees of Boston University, acting through its African Studies Center dt: @attributes: year: 2023 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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