“The Strategic Diplomacy of Queen Njinga: Written, Spoken and Performed”
Professor Linda Heywood, Professor of African History and the History of the African Diaspora and African American Studies – Boston University, USA
Arts Complex Link 1, 3-5 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8, UK
4 July 2017, 3.00 PM – 5.00 PM
“The Strategic Diplomacy of Queen Njinga: Written, Spoken and Performed”
In the view of some western scholars, Africans only became aware of history when Europeans established “centralized, document-generating colonial governments.” Others are inclined to see the adoption of literacy in Africa as crucial in undermining the oral traditions which held back African societies. This powerpoint presentation on Njinga, Orality, Literacy and performance, critiques both these positions. Using written texts and images from the period, I argue that although Queen Njinga adopted writing in her dealings with the Portuguese, the success she achieved during her fifty years of military and diplomatic relations with them, as well as her unique spiritual diplomacy with the Vatican, had more to do with her strategic use of oral communication, written texts and performance than with her ability to read and write Portuguese.
For further information, please contact Dr Jose Lingna Nafafe