Bible Translation and the Formation of Corporate Identity in Uganda and Congo 1900-1940
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Authors
Wild-Wood, Emma
Publication Date
2017-11Journal Title
Journal of African History
ISSN
0021-8537
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Volume
58
Issue
3
Pages
489-507
Language
English
Type
Article
This Version
AM
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Wild-Wood, E. (2017). Bible Translation and the Formation of Corporate Identity in Uganda and Congo 1900-1940. Journal of African History, 58 (3), 489-507. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853717000378
Abstract
Engaging debates around ethnic nationhood and knowledge production, this article examines the influence of Bible translation on corporate identity formation in Toro and Ituri (1900–40). It studies translations instigated by one individual to investigate textual agency wherever it leads. The translator Apolo Kivebulaya promoted adherence to Christianity as an inclusive and linguistically-plural global community. His translation for the Mbuti, which had limited circulation among its intended audience, shows an aspect of this global community at work, remaking the international image of the Mbuti. His earlier Runyoro-Rutoro translation, however, encouraged a local and political form of corporate identity in which translation and Old Testament stories helped to form an ethnic moral economy. In focusing upon Bible translation among the Toro and the Mbuti, the article moves from the politically influential Ganda, the focus of much historiography of Christianity in East Africa, and explains the roots of later revivalism and patriotism.
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853717000378
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/266880
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