Emancipation address as creole testimony: Muhammad Kabā Saghanughu, a formerly enslaved Muslim in Jamaica

During the celebration of emancipation in the British West Indies, Muhammad Kabā Saghanughu, a 90-year-old former apprentice from West Africa living in Jamaica wrote and likely delivered a speech in Arabic script and had it delivered to Jamaican Governor, Sir Lionel Smith. This recently discovered m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Slavery & abolition Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 795 - 815
Main Authors:	Dolan, Elizabeth A., Alami, Ahmed Idrissi
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Abingdon Routledge 01-10-2020 Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:	Jamaica
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	During the celebration of emancipation in the British West Indies, Muhammad Kabā Saghanughu, a 90-year-old former apprentice from West Africa living in Jamaica wrote and likely delivered a speech in Arabic script and had it delivered to Jamaican Governor, Sir Lionel Smith. This recently discovered manuscript exhibits elements of the 'freedom narrative' as defined by Paul E. Lovejoy and of 'creole testimony' as identified by Nicole N. Aljoe. The language and discourse of the address reveal that linguistic and cultural creolization can be deliberate rather than organic. Kabā Saghanughu ingeniously used the official colonial discourse of this public occasion to project into the historical record his autobiography and critique of slavery.
ISSN:	0144-039X 1743-9523
DOI:	10.1080/0144039X.2020.1750099