Silences and Social Construction in Historical Accounts among the Boni Society of French Guiana
This article examines the practice of silence in the process of transmission and acquisition of facts related to the past of Surinam Boni people in French Guiana between the early 18th and early 20th centuries. In the Boni society, political, social, cultural and religious issues, placed at the service of the relationship, can hide behind the silences and omissions. Paradoxically, these same silences can contribute « objectively » to the writing of the history-science of this sociocultural group. The study focuses on the methodological aspect but also reveals an ambiguity between morality and knowledge.