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This book examines the West African kingdom of Dahomey, located in present-day Republic of Benin and looks at its relationship to the religious, cultural, and national identity of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Dahomey (c. 1625-1892), colonial Dahomey (1892-1960) and post-colonial Benin (1960-present).
List of contents
List of Figures
Introduction
The Palace’s Plan, Fabric and Function
Chapter Outlines
Methodology and Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 - The Fish that Escaped the Net: The Establishment of Dahomey
Coding Gender: Hangbe
Interpreting and Capitalizing on the Code: Agadja
Conclusion
Chapter 2 - Like a Jar with Many Holes: The Palace in Pre-colonial Dahomey
Instability in the Eighteenth Century
The Contributions of Tegbesu, Kpengla, and Agonglo
Reshaping the palace and succession: Adandozan
Architecture of Power and Reception: The Palaces of Guezo and Glele
Conclusion
Chapter 3 - The Foot that Stumbled but did not Fall: The Palace under Colonial Rule
Fire and Restoration: Behanzin and Agoli-agbo I
Setting up Government: Victor Ballot and the Palace
Agoli-agbo’s Exile and the Rise of the Chefs de Canton
The Formation of the Historic Museum of Abomey and l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire
Interpreting Dahomey through France’s Civilizing Mission
The Museum in its Colonial Context
Chapter 4 - The Shark and the Egg: The Post-colonial Palace
Modernization of Materials
The Palace’s Official Partnership with UNESCO
Cooperative Projects in the Museum
The Museum as a Post-colonial Entity
Conclusion
Chapter 5 - Nothing can Force the Buffalo to take off his Tunic: Dahomey’s Palace in Contemporary Abomey
Royal Vodun
Religious Purposes of the Pre-colonial Palace: Funerary Architecture and the Grand and Annual Customs
Tohosu and Nesuwhe
Dadassi
The Gandaxi
Conclusion
Chapter 6- Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Lynne Ellsworth Larsen is an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA.
Summary
This book examines the West African kingdom of Dahomey, located in present-day Republic of Benin and looks at its relationship to the religious, cultural, and national identity of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Dahomey (c. 1625-1892), colonial Dahomey (1892-1960) and post-colonial Benin (1960-present).
