ABSTRACT
Since 1998, Emancipation Day is celebrated on an annual basis in Ghana. The main attraction during Emancipation Day is a grand durbar at Assin Manso; a village located about 50 kilometers inland from Cape Coast. Here, the remains of two 'slave ancestors' from Jamaica and the United States were re-interred in an elaborate ritual on the occasion of the first Emancipation Day. Assin Manso today resembles a religious theme park, and has a rather static appearance. In contrast, Emancipation Day 1998 was marked by a constant dynamics of ambivalence. The Trinidadian Carnival is an example for incorporation of the emancipation theme into popular cultural manifestations. Even though slavery was not always directly addressed during the Carnival, the festival nevertheless provided an effective way to rejoice about freedom and can therefore be regarded as 'a deeply meaningful anniversary of deliverance from the most hateful form of human bondage.
