Includes bibliographical references (p. [319]-345) and index.

Centuries of youth : remembering, incorporation, and the reclamation of history -- Kings, slaves, and floating populations : discourses of centrality and marginality in the precolonial era -- Masks of terror an d the subjection of cadets -- Aurora colonialis : German imperialism an d the modernity of slavery -- Embodied histories : royal investiture, m asking, and remembering -- From slaves to free boys : cadets' resistanc e to gerontocratic, colonial, and postcolonial authority -- The death o f tears : mortuary rites and the indeterminacy of dance -- Dancing deat h : memorial celebrations, the politics of ritual laughter, and the emb odied memories of youth -- Histories of the present, histories of the f uture.