Other important works were published in the wake of this rich discussion on the formation of identities within the returnee communities established on the West African coast - in Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana - in the nineteenth century. These included Milton Guran's study of the Agudás of Benin. Guran used photography as a tool for investigation, along with research into the archives and intensive fieldwork, to shed light on individual trajectories and social strategies of affirmation among the African freedpersons who returned to Benin from Brazil (Guran, 1999). Paradoxical aspects of the history of the returnees, such as the strong presence of a positive memory of their Brazilian experience - in a context of enslavement - have been debated. Key considerations in this context include the mechanisms for building a self-image that allowed them to put themselves in a valued position within local societies.  
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[^0]:    5 Manuela Carneiro da Cunha's field work was carried out when accompanying her husband, Marianno Carneiro da Cunha, who was conducting pioneering research in the 1970s on the Brazilian presence in the cities where the community of returnees from Brazil was established, with a particular focus on Lagos, Nigeria (Da Cunha, 1985).