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African Studies Keyword: The Bush

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2023

Martha Lagace Open the ORCID record for Martha Lagace [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

When Ugandan singer Geoffrey Oryema died in France in 2018 after forty-one years in exile, his wish was to be cremated, repatriated to Uganda, and dispersed on the wind. His wish implied improper burial and ignited a controversy due to varied meanings of the bush. The bush is a keyword with a painful past. Oryema’s experience and Acholi concepts of the bush suggest the bush is partly a discourse, inherited from one generation to the next, about the shifting space between home and wild. For this analysis, Lagace draws on songs, social media, Ugandan and French press, archives, scholarship, and correspondence with Ugandans.

Résumé

Résumé

Lorsque le chanteur ougandais Geoffrey Oryema est décédé en France en 2018 après quarante et un ans d’exil, son souhait était d’être incinéré, rapatrié en Ouganda, et dispersé sur le vent. Son souhait impliquait un enterrement inapproprié et a déclenché une controverse en raison des significations variées de la brousse. La brousse est un mot-clé au passé douloureux. L’expérience d’Oryema et les concepts acholi de la brousse suggèrent que la brousse est en partie un discours, hérité d’une génération à l’autre, sur l’espace changeant entre la maison et la nature. Lagace s’appuie sur des chansons, des médias sociaux, la presse ougandaise et française, des archives, des bourses d’études et de la correspondance avec des Ougandais.

Resumo

Resumo

Quando o cantor ugandês Geoffrey Oryema morreu em França em 2018, após 41 anos no exílio, deixou expresso o desejo de ser cremado, repatriado para o Uganda e que as suas cinzas fossem espalhadas ao vento. O seu desejo implicava a realização de um ritual fúnebre inadequado e gerou uma controvérsia devido aos vários significados da palavra “bush” [mato; a Guerra Civil do Uganda é conhecida em inglês por Ugandan Bush War]. “Bush” é uma palavra-chave com um passado doloroso. A experiência de Oryema, bem como as definições de “bush” propostas pelos Acholi, sugerem que “bush” é em parte um discurso, transmitido de geração em geração, acerca do espaço de transição entre o lar e a selva. Para esta análise, Lagace baseia-se em canções, nas redes sociais, na imprensa ugandesa e francesa, em arquivos, em artigos académicos e em troca de correspondência com cidadãos do Uganda.

Keywords

AcholimusicmurderexilediasporatranslationinheritanceGeoffrey Oryema
Type
Keyword
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , March 2023 , pp. 176 - 202
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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