Images, Artifacts, and Myths: Reconstructing the Connections between Brazil and the Bight of Benin

This paper examines the construction of the memories of slavery in the Atlantic space shared by Brazil and the  Republique du Benin. By studying the reciprocal exchanges between Benin and Bahia, the paper investigates how the relationship to this common past of the Atlantic slave trade was built and is renewed today. My analysis relies on two mythical characters of this common past. The first is Na Angontime, one of the wives of the King Agonglo and the mother of King Ghezo (1818-1858), who was enslaved and sent to Brazil by King Adandozan (1797-1818). Today, Na Agontimé is remembered as the one who introduced the vodun of Abomey in Maranhão, at the House of Minas. Museums, songs and carnivals celebrate the Dahomean Queen as a symbol of the African roots of Brazil. The second mythical character is King Adandozan. Unlike Na Agontimé, he is almost unknown in Brazil. In Benin, he is perceived as a tyrannical ruler who enslaved the members of the royal family and who violated the  law by sending them into slavery to the Americas. Because of this betrayal, Adandozan was erased from the official history of the Kingdom of Dahomey, and he became the symbol of disruption. However, the links between Adandozan and Brazil are still alive, conserved and protected. The material evidence of his betrayal are carefully preserved, including letters he sent to the Portuguese monarchy that allowed the Brazilian slave trade in Dahomean ports, as well as his throne, which was probably sent from him as gift to Brazil . By analyzing images, oral accounts and public performances, the paper attempts to contrast both Agontime as a figure of remembrance with  Adandozan as a figure intentionally condemned to oblivion. In fact, both have contributed to the reconstruction of Africa in Brazil and Brazil in Africa.