Resistance and exclusion in matsouanist narratives of decolonization in French Congo

Abstract

The decolonization of French Equatorial Africa (AEF) has long been viewed as a smooth and peaceful process. However, this master narrative may be challenged be examining the history of decolonization of a small religious minority in Congo-Brazzaville, the Matsouanists. This article will revisit the process of decolonization in Congo as experienced by the Matsouanists. It is a perspective from the margins through which a different reality of decolonization in Congo can be seen—one of violence and exclusion. This piece will argue that Matsouanist representations of decolonization give historical validation to their feelings of victimhood and social exclusion. The research therefore engages with the broader, and urgent, problem of the politics of remembering and forgetting in Congo, and the impact thereof on social division in present-day Congo.