André Motingea Mangulu, born in Isangi, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1954. Ph.D. from Leiden University. Professor of African Linguistics at the National Pedagogic University of Kinshasa.
Fellow (1 September 2013 – 30 June 2014)
LANGUAGE, HISTORY, AND IDENTITY IN THE CONGO CENTRAL BASIN
Research Question
What factors are contributing to linguistic and cultural convergence and homogenisation processes in the Congo Central Basin, and how should these factors play a role in making history in an oral society?
Project Description
The aim of the study is to contribute to a new understanding of the past and present socio-cultural situation of the Congo Central Basin by showing how linguistic and cultural data are crucial for historians and anthropologists who are dealing with oral societies, and as well what kind of problems have to be expected in that new perspective and method in writing history.
It has been confirmed that the prehistory of East Africa, for instance, has become much clearer as result of the combination of data collected in different fields of science: physical anthropology, linguistics and archaeology. This is also valid for the primitive history of many nations with a written tradition.
Selected Publications
1) 1996: Etude comparative des langues ngiri de l’entre Ubangi-Zaïre. (CNWS Publications, 43.) Leiden: Research School CNWS. 280pp.
2) 2009: Le réseau fluvial congolais et la problématique de l’expansion bantoue. Annales Aequatoria 30: 839-988.
3) 2010. Aspects des parlers minoritaires des lacs Tumba et Inongo. Contribution à l’histoire de contact des langues dans le bassin central congolais. (ILCAA Language Monograph Series, 5.) Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa. 251pp.