This chapter addresses diasporic return narratives from Europe back to Africa. The chapter discusses both transnational journeys and local mobilities of diasporic returns by focusing on air travel and urban mobilities. The texts analyzed include Michèle Rakotoson’s travelogue Juillet au pays: Chroniques d’un retour à Madagascar (2007) and the following novels: Camara Laye’s Dramouss (1966), Aïssatou Cissokho’s Dakar, la touriste autochtone (1986), Daniel Biyaoula’s L’Impasse (1996), Véronique Tadjo’s Loin de mon père (2010), and Jussy Kiyindou’s Des Ombres et leurs échos…(2019). The state of being suspended between two places characteristic of aeromobility reflects the diasporic condition, and scenes of aeromobility often feature in the opening. Aeromobility plays a key role in the production of the figure of the diasporic returnee, and the characteristic features of air travel affect the narration, producing the anxieties associated with diasporic homecomings on the formal scale. Local mobilities move the returnees across their former hometowns in a way that not only contributes to producing the meanings of the cities but also illustrates the returnees’ complex relationship with them. Formal strategies often underline the returnees’ difficulties in attempting to claim their former hometowns as their own through mobility practices.

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Mobile “homecomings” from Europe to Africa

  • Anna-Leena Toivanen

摘要

This chapter addresses diasporic return narratives from Europe back to Africa. The chapter discusses both transnational journeys and local mobilities of diasporic returns by focusing on air travel and urban mobilities. The texts analyzed include Michèle Rakotoson’s travelogue Juillet au pays: Chroniques d’un retour à Madagascar (2007) and the following novels: Camara Laye’s Dramouss (1966), Aïssatou Cissokho’s Dakar, la touriste autochtone (1986), Daniel Biyaoula’s L’Impasse (1996), Véronique Tadjo’s Loin de mon père (2010), and Jussy Kiyindou’s Des Ombres et leurs échos…(2019). The state of being suspended between two places characteristic of aeromobility reflects the diasporic condition, and scenes of aeromobility often feature in the opening. Aeromobility plays a key role in the production of the figure of the diasporic returnee, and the characteristic features of air travel affect the narration, producing the anxieties associated with diasporic homecomings on the formal scale. Local mobilities move the returnees across their former hometowns in a way that not only contributes to producing the meanings of the cities but also illustrates the returnees’ complex relationship with them. Formal strategies often underline the returnees’ difficulties in attempting to claim their former hometowns as their own through mobility practices.