Voz d'Angola clamando no deserto: protest and demand in Luanda (1881-1901)

Abstract

The present project approaches the conflicts and transformations that occurred specifically in the last decade of the 19th century in Luanda city. When we follow the Creoles, originated from the contact between the Portuguese and native women, trajectory in Luanda and in its surroundings toward the countryside, it is possible to notice that in the period after the transatlantic traffic prohibition there was a continuous process of growing poverty in that extract. Due to the arrival of Portuguese immigrants, and therefore, the increasing offer of educated workers at the end of the century, the creoles were expelled of the colonial administration, where they had obtained positions. The justification for their expulsion was also accompanied by the increasing speech about the supposed 'race hierarchy', as it was referred to at the time, when it was so fashionable in the metropolis. Organized to refute the opinions about the supposed inferiority of the black people emitted by the politician and army officer Dantas Baracho, the journal Voice of Angola claiming in the desert comes out in 1901, containing collected writings written by several creole writers. The research seeks to better understand how the authors use points that belong to the ilustrated European culture in order to respond to Dantas Baracho's speech, exemple of the way the metropolitans saw the issue, and propose a new view about the subject. The study also uses other sources such as press periodicals from Angola and Portugal, Bulletins of the Lisbon Geographical Society, official documents, specialized literature, among others that may help clarify the studied issue. (AU)