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Protestant Missions and the History of Lingala

1986; Brill; Volume: 16; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1163/157006686x00100

1570-0666

William J. Samarin,

African history and culture studies

Of all the things that language can be at any time-for example, medium of communication, symbol of ethnicity, or means of exercising power-it was something in particular at the time when missionaries began their work in the Congo River basin at the end of the nineteenth century.' Language served the missionaries as a means to penetrate the heart of Africa. This function can be symbolized by the kinds of gross arrows that indicate the advance of troops in war maps. The relationship between language use and territorial 'occupation' is in fact not accidental. This paper reveals how they are related in mission policy-and how differences through time were reflected in changing linguistic policies.2 The story is that of Bangala, the lingua franca that emerged very soon after Europeans, led by H. M. Stanley, began to occupy equatorial Africa with the assistance of labor recruited in one way or another from among the peoples upriver from Stanley Pool. The language is known today as Lingala, although there is a form in the northeastern section of Zaire that is still known by its earlier name. How 'Bangala' became 'Lingala' is part of the story that will unfold.