‘A symbol of French colonialism’: The Brazza Memorial and contested colonial memory in Congo

Abstract

In 2006, the government of Congo built a $10 million glass and marble mausoleum to house the remains and to celebrate the legacies of the French colonizer, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. This extravagant commemoration sits uncomfortably alongside global calls for the removal of memorials celebrating colonial figures. This article analyses how ordinary people construct their own narratives to contest colonial commemorations through a study of citizens’ perceptions of the Savorgnan de Brazza Memorial in the Republic of Congo. The article interrogates the meanings of colonial commemoration in a postcolonial Francophone state with the intent to challenge the Western-centric tropes associated with the meanings of colonial memories. While in the West, the image of Savorgnan de Brazza remains associated with the tropes of the ‘White Savior’ and the ‘Good prophet’, for Congolese citizens, the colonial monument instead symbolizes French colonialism and its continued consequences. By recentring Congolese people and their perceptions of the mausoleum, this research uncovers an original account of Françafrique, or the acquaintances between French and African elites that render possible the continued influence of France in the state affairs of its previous colonies.