Vore gamle tropekolonier..? – Tropekolonierne som danske erindringssteder

Abstract

The knowledge of the Danish colonial past has for a very long time played a minor
role in the general picture of Danish History in Denmark. Within the past 10-15
years however the former Danish tropic colonies in the West Africa, East India
and the West Indies have attracted a growing number of Danish visitors in search
for the colonial past. This has led to a number of renovation projects sponsored
by Danish agents in collaboration with the local authorities in the former tropic
colonies. This article takes its analytical starting point in the French Historian
Pierre Nora’s notion of places of memory (lieux de mémoire) and deals with some
of the problems of both a philosophical and political kind that spring from these
new initiatives.