Njinga Mbandi: From Historical Silence to Contemporary Fictional Recreations

Abstract

A noteworthy female character in Angolan history, especially for the history of resistance in the XVII century, Njinga Mbandi already appeared as a troublesome figure that made it difficult for the Portuguese to enter Angolan territory in works by her contemporaries, such as Istorica descrizione de tre regni Kongo, Matamba ed Angola (1687), by the priest Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo (1621-1678), and História Geral das Guerras angolanas [General History of the Angolan Wars] (1680), by the soldier Antonio Oliveira Cadornega (1623-1690). Even though such references are worthy of attention due to their being contemporary to the existence of Queen Njinga Mbandi, the historical erasure of her relevance throughout the centuries is also noticeable, perhaps due to the extension of the colonial situation up until 1975. However, this silence was initially interrupted by fictional recreations that highlight Njinga’s leadership and reinforce the resistance aspect of what was already an anticolonial struggle. Nowadays, the Queen’s life has also gained more attention in the academic research of various fields, especially History. In this paper, we emphasize four works of literature that recover the historical figure of the Ndongo Queen: Nzinga Mbandi (1975), by Manuel Pedro Pacavira; A gloriosa família: o tempo dos flamengos [The Glorious Family: The time of the Flemings] (1997), by Pepetela; A rainha Ginga [Queen Ginga] (2014), by José Eduardo Agualusa, and the movie Njinga, rainha de Angola [Njinga, Queen of Angola] (2013), directed by Sérgio Graciano. These recreate her life not only in Angola, but also in Central Africa as the resignification of a myth in the anticolonial struggle.