Paper short abstract:

The forceful capture and transfer of slaves from their homes violates all aspects of human rights. It has affected blacks at both sides of the Atlantic. The disruptions transcend physical boundaries.

Paper long abstract:

The connection between slaves, descendants of slaves and the African continent is one that transcends time and space, and is powerful enough to reach out to future generations to establish a link. Several descendants of slaves, some with no immediate link to Africa, have attested to this powerful connection to their ancestral land. Some have experienced varying degrees of a "pull" that "calls" them to Africa in search of their roots and their identity. Several African and African American literary works have dealt with the subject. Using Isidore Okpewho's Call Me by My Rightful Name, this paper explores the spatial, cultural and generational boundaries (or lack thereof) in the work. The main character, Otis, is a young college student in the 1960s United States. He is forced to confront his ancestry when he suddenly starts to manifest some form of spiritual possession that cannot be explained medically. He is led on a physical, spiritual and ancestral journey to Nigeria where he is confronted with his ancestry and the Nigerian way of life. The paper will examine the powerful links in ancestry that transcend generations, space, culture and time, the belief in reincarnation and the role of memory, as well as the idea that boundaries are a man-made construct that often hinder a richer experience of ancestral presence within the physical world setting.

Keywords: boundary, ancestry, time, generation, space, culture