Abstract

FIGUEIREDO, João. The issue of the “Ouvidas”: The dispute between civil and military authorities for the trial of “causas gentílicas” in mid-19th century Angola. Cadernos de Estudos Africanos [online]. 2015, n.30, pp.81-104. ISSN 1645-3794.

This article pays close attention to two controversies which took place in the pages of the Boletim Official do Governo Geral da Provincia de Angola during the 1850s and 1860s. On the one hand, this scrutiny allows a best comprehension of how the ideal types of “Julgados” and “Presidios” drafted at the metropolis were locally understood. On the other, through this analysis it is possible to understand how the inevitable disparity between these models and the habitus of the locals was exploited by rival corporations responsible for the administration of justice, which from then on exchanged mutual accusations. The broader context will be also considered, taking into special account both the rivalries between abolitionists and slavers, and those between colonial agents either closer to the metropolis or Brazil.

Keywords : ouvidas; mucanos; civilizing mission; judicial organization; gentilismo; slavery.

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