Kongo interpreters, traveling priests, and political leaders in the Kongo Kingdom (15th-19th century)

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Periodical article

Title:	Kongo interpreters, traveling priests, and political leaders in the Kongo Kingdom (15th-19th century)
Author:	Brinkman, Inge
Year:	2016
Periodical:	International Journal of African Historical Studies (ISSN 0361-7882)
Volume:	49
Issue:	2
Pages:	255-276
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Congo (Democratic Republic of) Congo (Republic of) Angola Europe
Subjects:	Kongo polity international trade culture contact interpreters
Abstract:	This article analyses early relations between Europeans and the inhabitants of the Kongo kingdom, starting from the end of the fifteenth century. It investigates whether these relations were hierarchical in nature. It focuses on the role of interpreters in the contact between European visitors and Kongolese hosts. The article shows that these intermediaries were in principle viewed as equals by the incoming visitors. It also finds that these interpreters were mainly engaged in translating oral conversations, unlike the colonial intermediaries. Finally, it draws attention to the changing position of Kongo interpreters in the timespan under investigation. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]