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Looking for Africville - Complementary Visual Constructions of a Contended Space

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  • Stephen Spencer

Abstract

This paper explores the historical sources, personal narratives and representations of Africville, an area beside the Bedford Basin near Halifax in Nova Scotia which has been the site of a struggle for social justice and reparation since it was destroyed by the city of Halifax authorities over 40 years ago. The article examines the complex construction of the place as a source of identity and protest, the persistence of the community in memories and stories retrieved in walking the site with a former resident. Through careful consideration of video and still images, artworks and archive maps, the study traces the intersection of different discourses and shows how visual representations and their interpretation produce a complex understanding of place. Images, it is argued, have a different ontology to writing and produce a gradually unfolding, parallel argument. Africville is considered through a combination of traditional written texts, visual ethnographic sources and popular cultural signs, producing a complementary and intersubjective appreciation of a place and its lines of possibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Spencer, 2012. "Looking for Africville - Complementary Visual Constructions of a Contended Space," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 17(1), pages 29-46, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:17:y:2012:i:1:p:29-46
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.2573
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jane Fielding, 2007. "Environmental Injustice or Just the Lie of the Land: An Investigation of the Socio-Economic Class of those at Risk from Flooding in England and Wales," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 12(4), pages 12-34, August.
    2. Elizabeth Chaplin, 2005. "The Photograph in Theory," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 10(1), pages 141-177, June.
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