Migrants and strangers in an African city : exile, dignity, belonging / Bruce Whitehouse.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-268) and index.

Introduction: exile knows no dignity -- The Avenue of Sergeant Malamine -- Enterprising strangers -- Among the unbelievers -- The stranger's code -- Transnational kinship -- Children of exile -- Conclusion: the anchoring of identities -- Epilogue: displaced dreams.

In cities throughout Africa, local inhabitants live alongside large populations of "strangers." Bruce Whitehouse explores the condition of strangerhood for residents who have come from the West African Sahel to settle in Brazzaville, Congo. Whitehouse considers how these migrants live simultaneously inside and outside of Congolese society as merchants, as Muslims in a predominantly non-Muslim society, and as parents seeking to instill in their children the customs of their communities of origin. Migrants and Strangers in an African City challenges Pan-Africanist ideas of transnationalism and diaspora in today's globalized world.