Book contents
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword Beyond the Printed Word
- Introduction Finding the African Voice
- Part One Remembering Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Part Two The Verbal Arts and Everyday Objects
- Part Three Documenting Our Own Histories and Cultural Practices
- Part Four Slavery Observed: European Travelers’ Accounts
- 19 Introduction:
- 20 The Story of Saaba
- 21 Zenneb and Saint-André’s Cruise Up the Nile to Dongola
- 22 The Ordeals of Slaves’ Flight in Tunisia
- 23 African Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Manuscript of Jean Godot
- Part Five Administrative Records
- Part Six Legal Records
- Part Seven Recorded Encounters with the Enslaved: Christian Workers in Africa
- Part Eight Documents from Muslim Africa
- Part Nine Living with the Past
- Index
21 - Zenneb and Saint-André’s Cruise Up the Nile to Dongola
An Enslaved Woman from Dar Fur (Sudan) and Her Self-Presentation
from Part Four - Slavery Observed: European Travelers’ Accounts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2013
Book contents
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword Beyond the Printed Word
- Introduction Finding the African Voice
- Part One Remembering Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Part Two The Verbal Arts and Everyday Objects
- Part Three Documenting Our Own Histories and Cultural Practices
- Part Four Slavery Observed: European Travelers’ Accounts
- 19 Introduction:
- 20 The Story of Saaba
- 21 Zenneb and Saint-André’s Cruise Up the Nile to Dongola
- 22 The Ordeals of Slaves’ Flight in Tunisia
- 23 African Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Manuscript of Jean Godot
- Part Five Administrative Records
- Part Six Legal Records
- Part Seven Recorded Encounters with the Enslaved: Christian Workers in Africa
- Part Eight Documents from Muslim Africa
- Part Nine Living with the Past
- Index
Summary
Zenneb was an enslaved woman from Dar Fur who became the female companion of M. Saint-André, a French pharmacist serving in the Egyptian army. Slavery was a very old institution in Egypt and the Sudan. Zenneb words and actions reveal her views, her range of self-presentation, and the complexity of her position as the slave companion of a European in a Muslim society. She could defend Saint-André against Musa's accusations by praising his treatment of her, which she contrasted to that of her earlier Muslim masters who had insulted and beaten her. Contesting versions emphasized superficial differences or deeper similarities between races. Aware of cultural differences in the perception of racial hierarchies and standards of beauty, she sought to present herself to her best advantage according to the culture of the places she was in.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade , pp. 220 - 238Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013