Uma tradução crítica do teor da abertura do Kitāb al-Zunūj, em duas versões (Kismayo e Witu, África Oriental, c. 1890-1903)

Abstract

This work presents a lusophone translation of the prologue of an Arabic chronicle produced within the Swahili Afro-Islamic intellectuality between the 19th-20th centuries. Such chronicle is the Kitāb al-Zunūj, which envisioned the fixation of an Arab-Persian history for the Swahili Coast. Following the contextual exposition, we present a comparative critique of the Italian and English editions (Cerulli 1957; Ritchie & Von Sicard 2020), as well as an effort of reconstitution of the original context of the two extant MSS, and their translation: “K” (from Kismayo, Somalia), and “L” (Witu, Kenya) in the face of the colonial interference over their respective narratives.