Slavery and communication in the Atlantic world: The ‘Angola language’ (17th century)

Abstract

This paper discusses the language and communication issues in the history of slavery and slave trade in the Atlantic world. The starting point is the work Arte da Língua de Angola, published in Lisbon in 1697, authored by the Jesuit priest Pedro Dias, who lived in Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro. These Portuguese colonial areas were marked by a multilingual communication, including the “Angola language”, currently designated as kimbundu. In this article, the work is considered as a sign of a wider arena discussed with documents produced by lay and missionary colonial authorities, and with historiographical and theoretical references, especially the Portuguese empire history and the linguistic history. Along with other contemporary documents, we will be able to represent a wide set of linguistic works related to African languages produced in the 17th century. Some historical and social contexts both in Brazil and Angola will reveal the communication issues between different linguistic groups, and the different uses of kimbundu in the Atlantic space.

Keywords: Brazilian linguistic and social history, Atlantic world, African slavery, kimbundu.