The American historian and epistemologist Hayden White said that «there can be no ‘proper history’ which is not at the same time ‘philosophy of history’» (1973, p. XI). But it could also be argued that one cannot make history of philosophy or history of ideas without working on historical data. The data on which I would like to draw attention in this contribution are seemingly reducible to a small thing: they refer to a micro-history that has left few traces, some tombs, surnames, oral memories, and a couple of toponyms. In these pages I will try to show how emblematic this micro-history is to the Cape Verdean identity, the ‘caboverdianidade’ (‘Cape Verdeanness’), and how it can be so concerning identity in general. This micro-history is that of the Jewish presence in Cape Verde, on which I will provide some historical data and interpretative perspectives.

Piazza, M. (2020). The Cape Verde Jews: an Identity Puzzle. JOURNAL OF CAPE VERDEAN STUDIES, 5(1), 27-35.

The Cape Verde Jews: an Identity Puzzle

piazza marco
2020-01-01

Abstract

The American historian and epistemologist Hayden White said that «there can be no ‘proper history’ which is not at the same time ‘philosophy of history’» (1973, p. XI). But it could also be argued that one cannot make history of philosophy or history of ideas without working on historical data. The data on which I would like to draw attention in this contribution are seemingly reducible to a small thing: they refer to a micro-history that has left few traces, some tombs, surnames, oral memories, and a couple of toponyms. In these pages I will try to show how emblematic this micro-history is to the Cape Verdean identity, the ‘caboverdianidade’ (‘Cape Verdeanness’), and how it can be so concerning identity in general. This micro-history is that of the Jewish presence in Cape Verde, on which I will provide some historical data and interpretative perspectives.
2020
Piazza, M. (2020). The Cape Verde Jews: an Identity Puzzle. JOURNAL OF CAPE VERDEAN STUDIES, 5(1), 27-35.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/376869
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact