A haunting presence: archiving black absence and racialized mappings in Louisiana plantation sites

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article argues that slavery and racial terror continue to haunt the narrative of the nation state. Through an analysis of Louisiana’s plantation sites and tours the authors examine the presence of black absence in their visual organization. We suggest that the historical but hereto little explored connection between the plantation site and the city of New Orleans is one that continues into the present day through Louisiana’s tourist economy. Thinking beyond western notions of archival knowledge that privilege text and materiality this article brings into relief the presence of black absence in Louisiana’s plantation and urban spaces. Doing so illuminates the ways in which white dominance has marked and organized narratives of the nation state as presented through plantation sites and tours.