Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: May 17, 2021 at 12:58:36 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Luso-Africa]: Macagno on Karlen and Boroni, > 'Capitão' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Yann Karlen, Stefano Boroni. Capitão. Lausanne Éditions > Antipodes, 2019. 110 pp. EUR 22.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-2-88901-164-3. > > Reviewed by Lorenzo G. Macagno (Universidade Federal do Paraná) > Published on H-Luso-Africa (May, 2021) > Commissioned by Philip J. Havik > > _Capitão_, a story in comic strip form created by Yann Karlen > (story) and Stefano Boroni (illustrator), is an allegory inspired by > the experiences of Swiss missionaries in Mozambique. It is not > intended as a factual history. It is, purposefully, a work of > fiction, or rather, a fictional story. > > The so-called Swiss Mission was a primordial player in the colonial > history of Mozambique, and its presence had striking contemporary > consequences for that country. The fact that Eduardo Mondlane, the > father of the nation, had been educated by the Swiss missionaries is > a symptom of this centrality. The protagonism of those missionaries > began around 1890, a period of intense changes, both in the > Portuguese metropole and in the colony. It was, above all, a moment > marked by the military conquest of the present-day territory of > Mozambique. > > Before arriving in Mozambique, the Mission Suisse Romande set up > missionary stations in the "Boer" province of the Transvaal, in what > is now South Africa. Its main bases were at Valdezia, Elim, and > Shilouvane. In Mozambique, the principal missions were those of > Lourenço Marques, Rikatla, Antioka, and Mandlhakaze. Paul Berthoud, > together with Ernest Creux, founded the mission at Valdezia; later, > he would work in Moçambique. In 1891, his brother, Henri Berthoud > (as a missionary in Valdezia) visited Mozambique for the first time. > The missionary doctor Georges-Louis Liengme also arrived in that same > year. However, perhaps the best known of all the missionaries was > Henri-Alexandre Junod, who produced a masterly anthropological work: > _The Life of a South African Tribe_, along with numerous essays and > public statements on the situation of the "natives" of East > Africa.[1] > > At the time, Gunghunhana (or Ngungunyane), "king of Gaza," ruled over > a multiethnic empire in the central and southern regions of what is > now Mozambique. The missionary physician Liengme set up base in > Mandlhakaze, the very place where Gungunhana held court. For three > years, Liengme had the privilege of participating in the local > day-to-day life, winning the trust of Gungunhana himself. > Technically, the "king of Gaza" was a Portuguese subject. However, he > would become an enemy of the Portuguese from 1894, when the decision > was made to occupy the territory of the Gaza empire. Liengme left > precious annotations about his life in the court of Gungunhana. This > diary has recently been organized and published by Eric > Morier-Genoud.[2] > > Let us recall that around 1895, the so-called "effective occupation" > of the territory of Mozambique began. This was the war Portugal waged > against the principal local African leaders, including Gungunhana. > For the Portuguese, the Swiss missionaries occupied an ambiguous, > uncomfortable position. Whereas Portugal sought to take advantage by > force of arms, the missionaries had won the trust of local > populations. For this reason, these "exotic" philanthropists were > viewed with suspicion by the Portuguese authorities. > > The experience of the Swiss missionaries in Mozambique has inspired a > vast bibliographic corpus. The work of Patrick Harries is perhaps one > of the most notable on this theme.[3] Many Mozambican intellectuals > have studied the legacy of those missionaries. The historian Teresa > Cruz e Silva caused us, for example, to reconsider the role of the > Swiss Protestants in the creation of a nationalist and > anticolonialist conscience in Mozambique. Thus, the Swiss presence > also encouraged further philosophical and sociological reflections > concerning the construction of nationhood. Not by chance, perhaps, > one of the authors of _Capitão_ (Stefano Boroni) was himself a > student of the Mozambican philosopher Severino Ngoenha in Lausanne. > > We are not speaking therefore, of past histories, but of an > educational, religious, and scientific intervention that left deep > imprints on contemporary Mozambique. Today the ethnography of > Henri-Alexandre Junod is debated by various intellectuals, film > directors, missionaries, writers, anthropologists, artists, and > philosophers. For example, the work of the famous painter and plastic > artist Malangatana--originally from the region of Marracuene--cannot > not be understood without taking into account this legacy. The > experience of the Swiss missionaries in Mozambique was also taken up > by film director Camilo de Sousa (with the collaboration of Licínio > Azevedo), who released a documentary titled _Junod_ (2006), about the > legacy of the missionary-ethnographer. Hence, today the dilemmas of > Mozambique, and therefore, of the construction of "Mozambique-ness," > cannot be discussed without evoking the heritage left by the Swiss > missionaries. History books, personal diaries, paintings, > documentaries, and now, a comic book! > > But who is _Capitão_? Those familiar with the history of the Swiss > Mission in Mozambique will be surprised--and entertained--by the > comic strip. Those new to the subject will certainly be curious to > know more about the experience of those missionaries. But it must be > said that Yann Karlen and Stefano Boroni's work is a "serious game." > At times, _Capitão_, the protagonist, reminds us of the unmistakable > figure of Georges-Louis Liengme. But _Capitão_ also appears to evoke > the life of Henri-Alexandre Junod himself. The work of Yann Karlen > and Stefano Boroni is replete with real historical and iconographic > references. It is, as linguists say, a work replete with > intertextualities. But it would be ungenerous for readers to limit > themselves to merely seeking to identify factual references, as > _Capitão_ is more than a simple intertextual micronarrative. It is, > above all, a great intellectual _bricolage_; a narrative and visual > _collage_ capable of generating multiple significations and > polyphonies. > > Capitão, the protagonist, was, like Liengme, a missionary doctor. > After curing the son of king "Ngou" (here we see an obvious reference > to the historical figure of Gungunhana), he had won the trust of the > natives. A series of conflicts ensued, among them, a quarrel with > Chidzilo, the traditional healer (Nyanga). It amounted to a > civilizatory confrontation between the knowledge of the missionary > and that of the Africans. There is a moment in which the linearity of > Capitão's task is threatened, when he falls in love with Ntsako, a > beautiful young woman of the village. Its subjectivity is confronted > with this unforeseen event. New conflicts and tensions emerge, until, > finally, "romantic love" prevails: "Entre l'amour de Ntsako e ma > mission, j'avais enfin trouvé un sens à ma vie [Between my love for > Ntsako and my mission, I have finally made sense of my life]," says > Capitão, almost at the end of the book (p. 84). But this apparently > bucolic romanticized world is interrupted by the war: the effective > occupation of Mozambique carried out, in real history, by Antonio > Ennes and his "centurions." The Portuguese are ready to invade the > village. Ngou, the king, asks Capitão for his assistance. His > mission will not be an easy one. Capitão travels to Lourenço > Marques to talk to the Portuguese governor: "Je vous assure que Ngou > ne veut que la paix! [I assure you that Ngou only wants peace!]" says > Capitão to the governor (p. 85). We are, supposedly, at the end of > the nineteenth century, but Stefano Boroni, the illustrator, opted to > portray the Portuguese governor with the same facial characteristics > as the dictator Salazar! What a provocation. > > The end is near. Ntsako is pregnant. Capitão waits, anxiously, for > his "African" son to arrive. But tragedy is imminent. The Portuguese > destroy the village, and later, Capitão finds his beloved Ntsako > dead, the victim of the invading forces. He is disconsolate and loses > faith. Disillusioned, the missionary would later, in old age, become > an alcoholic. In the book, this brief story is told in the first > person, by Capitão himself, now aged and disenchanted. At a bar in > Lourenço Marques, the former missionary, getting drunk, narrates his > past adventures. It is probably the 1950s. Listening attentively to > these stories told by Capitão is a young African waiter. It is not > until the end of the book that the reader discovers the name of the > young waiter: Eduardo Chitlangu Mondlane! > > Due to a primordial scientific imperative, historians and social > scientists are accustomed to the tyranny of citations, factual > evidence, the density of bibliographic notes. _Capitão_, obviously, > is not a book based upon the social sciences. Neither is it a simple > parable aimed at illustrating historical facts: something like "the > Swiss Mission in Mozambique explained for children." The authors took > a different route. A more libertarian, and therefore, profoundly > human route. After all, that is how art ultimately works: as an > invitation to cross into other semantic dimensions and thus, amplify > the range of human experience. It is almost a sarcastic irony that in > this book, the young mission doctor (Capitão) later becomes an > alcoholic. This is tantamount to the opposite of the "real" > historical figure of Liengme! As Eric Morier-Genoud warns us in the > introduction to Liengme's diaries: "Il fut un des tout premiers > militants du mouvement d'abstinence (antialcoolique) qui deviendra la > Croix-Bleue [He was one of the very first activists of the abstinence > (anti-alcoholic) movement that would become the Blue Cross]" (p. 15). > > _Capitão_, as an artistic object, extends the possibilities of what > can be said and imagined. Against the normativist, teleological, and > linear imperatives of the missionaries' lives, it shows us the > contradictions of human subjectivity, friendship, love, passion. In > other words, almost the reverse of Calvinist asceticism. In its own > way, therefore, _Capitão_ is a welcome provocation to exercise in > the art of thought with a sense of humor and delicateness. > > The book begins with a preface by the writer Mia Couto and ends with > a "Survol historique" (historical overview) written by Eric > Morier-Genoud and Yann Karlen. Those responsible for the publication > of the book, at the publishing house Antipodes, in Lausanne, > performed a veritably coherent act in publishing _Capitão_ and, > immediately afterwards, _Convertir l'empereur_ (Liengme's diaries, > organized by Eric Morier-Genoud). The two works are symmetrically > opposed, yet complementary. Those interested in the cultural and > political history of the Mozambican region of Africa should celebrate > this partnership. > > Notes > > [1]. _The Life of a South African Tribe _(London: Macmillan, 1913). > > <p>[2]. _Convertir l'empereur? Journal du missionnaire et médecin > Georges-Louis Liengme dans le sud-est africain, 1893-1895_ (Lausanne: > Éditions Antipodes, 2020). > > [3]. _Butterflies and Barbarians: Swiss Missionaries and Systems of > Knowledge in South-East Africa_ (Athens: Ohio University Press; > Oxford: James Currey, 2007). > > Citation: Lorenzo G. Macagno. Review of Karlen, Yann; Boroni, > Stefano, _Capitão_. H-Luso-Africa, H-Net Reviews. May, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56519 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#8610): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/8610 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/82891804/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
