Oral sources are essential in research on Northern Mozambique history of the turn of the twentieth century. They open a window on a more recent and undocumented phase, which accompanies the establishment of the Companhia do Niassa as a chartered company in the islands between 1891 and 1929, the enforcement of the legal abolition of slavery, and the progressive emergence of racial classifications. The oral sources add to our understanding of past social dynamics the perspective of the people involved, as opposed to the perspective of the officials, and provide clues to the social and gender differences that existed among the slaves who lived on the islands or in proximity to them on the Northern Mozambican coast. While the demand for slaves was growing on the coast, highly organized systems of domestic slavery and complex relations of dependency among patrons, clients, and servants had already developed in the Zambezi Valley. This chapter analyses memories about domestic slavery gathered in the Querimbas Island and nearby areas.
A Free Woman could Marry a Slave Because of Hunger”. Memories of Life in Slavery along the Northern Mozambique Coast
DECLICH, FRANCESCA
2017
Abstract
Oral sources are essential in research on Northern Mozambique history of the turn of the twentieth century. They open a window on a more recent and undocumented phase, which accompanies the establishment of the Companhia do Niassa as a chartered company in the islands between 1891 and 1929, the enforcement of the legal abolition of slavery, and the progressive emergence of racial classifications. The oral sources add to our understanding of past social dynamics the perspective of the people involved, as opposed to the perspective of the officials, and provide clues to the social and gender differences that existed among the slaves who lived on the islands or in proximity to them on the Northern Mozambican coast. While the demand for slaves was growing on the coast, highly organized systems of domestic slavery and complex relations of dependency among patrons, clients, and servants had already developed in the Zambezi Valley. This chapter analyses memories about domestic slavery gathered in the Querimbas Island and nearby areas.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
