Engendering west central African history: the role of urban women in Benguela in the nineteenth century

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Engendering west central African history: the role of urban women in Benguela in the nineteenth century
Author:	Candido, Mariana P.
Year:	2015
Periodical:	History in Africa (ISSN 1558-2744)
Volume:	42
Pages:	7-36
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Angola
Subjects:	women farmers market women female slaves urban poverty parishes historical sources
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1017/hia.2015.16
Abstract:	This study stresses the role of common women in the history of Benguela, Angola, in the nineteenth century. The author emphasizes the importance of parish records to unveil sectors of the society that tend to be invisible in the history of Angola, such as farmers, poor women who acted as vendors in the urban centers, and particularly, enslaved women. While some attention has been paid to merchant women, the so-called 'donas', and on political leaders, particularly Queen Nzinga, the same cannot be said about the poor and the enslaved women. Parish records allow us to access bits of information on the lives of women who did not leave written records and did not gain attention from the Portuguese authorities. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]