The Roots of Recovery: Àbàchà and the Reconstruction of Intangible Heritage in Postwar Southeastern Nigeria
摘要
In recent years, there has been a growing body of research on the reconstruction of cultural heritage in the aftermath of violent conflicts. A lot of this research, however, has tended to focus more on tangible heritage: how monuments and sites were destroyed during conflict and how they might be reconstructed afterwards. Relatively little research has considered the impact of war on intangible heritage and its postwar reconstruction or transformation. Also tied to this gap is that little work within the conflict-heritage reconstruction literature has focused on African case studies. In this chapter, we will explore—through the Nigeria-Biafra war (1967–1970) in southeastern Nigeria—how food heritage, in particular, can be impacted by conflict but more importantly, how this type of heritage can be reconstructed (or transformed) in its aftermath. This case contributes to a wholistic understanding of the post-conflict-heritage reconstruction discourse, especially for communities affected by violence where the impact on their intangible heritage often goes unnoticed.