ABSTRACT
What happens when sites of memory - particularly those commemorating a “dark” past - also function as places of the imagination for media tourists? Such sites may produce a form of heritage dissonance that transforms them into “strange spaces”, where familiar and phantasmagorical elements co-exist in unsettling ways. A fascinating case study can be found in the Gambian village of Juffure, where UNESCO World Heritage Sites commemorating the trans-Atlantic slave trade simultaneously serve as places of the imagination associated with the 1976 novel Roots. In 2015, I visited Juffure with 12 student research participants to assess whether the Roots connection complemented or complicated the historical narratives presented at these sites. Nearly half of my participants read Roots prior to travelling; the rest did not. In subsequent interviews, I assessed whether familiarity with Roots made these sites more comprehensible and resonant for Readers in comparison to Non-Readers. Ultimately, Readers were frequently confused and frustrated that day, as they tried to reconcile the imagined geographies of Roots with the spatial configurations and sense of place they experienced at these heritage sites. This suggests that the Roots connection threatens to complicate the historical narratives at these sites, rendering them as strange spaces of mediated memory.
