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ABSTRACT
This article seeks to expand our historical understanding of late-nineteenth-century “globalization” through the letters of a female Christian convert living in southeastern Tanganyika. By examining the correspondence between Agnes Sapuli and her educational sponsor in England, the historian can begin to reconstruct the individual, subjective experience of turn-of-the-century global connectedness. In so doing, we find that in the so-called periphery, people were simultaneously plugged in to the global trends of connection and acceleration, while also being keenly aware of the precariousness of those links. Moreover, on the individual level, late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century “globalization” included the growth of far-flung, but deeply important, affective relationships – relationships that often proved just as durable as railway ties and steamship routes.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. For works that describe the turn of the twentieth century as a period of increasing interconnectivity, see: Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 10–38 and 240–83; Carey, “Technology and Ideology,” 201–30; Wenzlhuemer, Connecting the Nineteenth-Century World; Krajewski, World Projects; Osterhammel, The Transformation of the World; Evans, The Pursuit of Power; and Jasanoff, The Dawn Watch.
2. See Ogle, Global Transformation; and Barak, On Time.
3. Ogle, Global Transformation, 4.
4. Krajewski, World Projects.
5. For the remainder of the piece, I use the term “Tanganyika” to refer to Sapuli’s location, though the period in question pre-dated the British designation of the territory as such. I find Tanganyika to be the clearest way to reference the mainland portions of the future country of Tanzania, as distinct from Zanzibar.
6. Hunter, Political Thought and the Public Sphere, 234–5.
7. See Kern, Culture of Time and Space; and Rosa and Scheuerman, High Speed Society. For a critical, though somewhat outmoded, look at nineteenth-century technology transfer from colonial metropole to periphery, see Headrick, The Tentacles of Progress.
8. Daston, “The Immortal Archive,” 175.
9. See: Prestholdt, Domesticating the World; Prestholdt, “Mirroring Modernity”; Ogle, Global Transformation; Barak, On Time; and Conrad, “‘Nothing is the Way It Should Be’,” 821–48.
10. See: Felicitas Becker, Becoming Muslim; Prestholdt, Domesticating the World; and Barak, On Time.
11. Andreana Prichard posited that the Swahili versions were dictated by Sapuli and written by an amanuensis: Prichard, Sisters in Spirit, 145. It is unclear who did the translations or where this occurred; Russell and Pollock speculated that they were done at the mission’s London headquarters by members who could read Swahili: Russell and Pollock, News from Masasi, 2.
12. For general biographical information available about Ajanjeuli/Agnes, I have found the study written by Russell and Pollock very helpful.
13. Bodleian Libraries, Commonwealth and African Collections, University of Oxford (BDL): UMCA Box List A-F: AF, Letter from Majaliwa to “My dear Friend,” 22 August 1895.
14. See: Russell and Pollock, News from Masasi, 89–91; and BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Carnon to Child, 13 September 1897.
15. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Carnon to Child, 13 September 1897. The priest referred here to Hugh Mtoka, a deacon at Chiwata.
16. Ibid.
17. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 15 March 1898.
18. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 17 October 1901.
19. For reference to three of the children who died see: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Francis and Agnes Sapuli to Child, 20 September 1912. See also: Russell and Pollock, News from Masasi, 122–4 and 159. Rose Annie was born on 23 September 1901, and John Owen on 15 June 1912.
20. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, All Saints Day, 1911; and BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Postcard from S.M. Elliott to Child, 28 November 1912.
21. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Francis Sapuli to Child, 16 October 1919. Francis wrote the letter in English.
22. For more on the history of Standard Swahili, see: Robinson, “An Uncommon Standard.”
23. Barber, Anthropology of Texts; Africa’s Hidden Histories; Larson, Ocean of Letters; Peterson, Creative Writing; and Peterson, Ethnic Patriotism.
24. Barber, Africa’s Hidden Histories, 3–4.
25. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, All Saints Day, 1911; and UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Postcard from S.M. Elliott to Child. For biographical information see also Russell and Pollock, News from Masasi.
26. Peterson, Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival. See especially “Chapter Two: The Infrastructure of Cosmopolitanism,” 37–49. The Revival was a movement that began within the Anglican community in northern Rwanda in the 1930s and quickly spread throughout the region.
27. Ibid., 49.
28. Ibid., 42.
29.
… ametueleza sana khabari za Kanisa la St. Agnes na zako wewe Padre Child ametuambia ya kuwa ni mtu mrefu mwenye ndevu nyeusi nzuri, tena ya kuwa ni mtu mwema. Alifurahi sana kutuona na kuona sanamu ya Kanisa la St. Agnes.
BDL: UMCA A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, All Saints Day, 1911. All translations from the Swahili are my own, assisted by the translations included with each letter. Reverend Hudson brought more information about St. Agnes’ when he and a colleague visited Agnes and Francis again in 1912, saying that they remembered well the Rev. Child and “explaining to us all about you.” See: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes and Francis Sapuli to Child, 20 September 1912.
30. See for example: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 15 March 1898; UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 22 October 1899; and UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, All Saints Day, 1911.
31. “Habari gani siku hizi huko Ulaya?” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 18 November 1900.
32. “Tena nisalimie sana sana, rafiki yangu Elspeth Holland na Violet McIntyre, waambie sikuwa na nafasi kuwaandika labda safari nyingine.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Ajanjeuli to Child, 15 March 1898.
33. “Tena waambie Agnes Piercy na Ada White, Ellen, Patrick na Maude Scott ahsante sana kwa zawadi yao nimemwandikia barua Agnes Piercy kubwa kidogo natumaini atawaarifu wenzake.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 22 October 1899.
34. “Tena sala yao nataka sana wanikumbuke daima kama nami niwakumbukavyo daima.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 22 October 1899.
35. “Kweli ninafurahi sana kuona kama mnazidi kunikumbuka na kuniombea kwa Bwana Muungu wetu. Kathalika nami sina buddi kuwakumbukeni katika sala zangu dayima.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: Letter from Agnes to “Wapenzi,” 17 November 1899.
36. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: AF, Letter from Francis Sapuli to “My dear Father,” 16 October 1919.
37. “Natamani sana kama heri tungeonana katika ulimwengu huu uso kwa uso, lakini haiwezikani tumaini langu ndio tutaonana mbinguni, tutakapokutana mbele ya Baba yetu atupendae dayima. Lakini sasa twaonana kwa imani ndio katika sala zetu.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 14 March 1899.
38. “Nataka sana kuwaoneni nyote. Lakini siwezi tunaonana kwa Imani katika sala zetu. Tutaonana mbinguni. Karatasi hii ndio karatasi mlionipelekea katika hii Writing Case yenu mlionipelekea. Muungu atulinde sote akatubariki tupate kukutana katika furaha ile kubwa kule mbinguni.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to “Wapenzi,” 17 November 1899.
39. “ … yanakumbusha killa siku rafiki zangu wa St. Agnes.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 17 October 1901. For other references to the photographs displayed in the Sapuli’s home, see: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F, A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 2 February 1907; and Letter from Agnes to Child.
40. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Postcard from S.M. Elliott to Child, 28 November 1912.
41. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Francis Sapuli to Child, 16 October 1919.
42. “Natumaini kama barua hii mtaipata kabla ya Xmas au karibu na Xmas.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Agnes Achitinao to “Wapenzi,” 17 November 1899.
43. “Mwambie Miss Clara Garnett kama salaam nitamwandikia barua mail ya pili leo nina haraka sana kwani kesho ni Post huko Masasi na hapa petu ni mbali kidogo na Masasi.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 9 November 1907. Russell and Pollock estimated that it would have taken someone four or five hours to walk from the Mwiti station, where Agnes lived from 1900 until 1910, to Masasi. See: Russell and Pollock, News from Masasi, 56.
44. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A1(III)A: Letter from Steere to Polly, 17 January 1865; UMCA Box List A-F: A1(III)B: Letter from Steere to Polly, 19 October 1872; UMCA Box List A-F: A1(IV)A: Letter from Allen to Heanley, 18 July 1877; UMCA Box List A-F: A1(I)A: Letter from Tozer to Steere, 17 February 1871; UMCA Box List A-F: A1(III)A: Letter from Steere to Heanley, 3 April 1880; UMCA Box List A-F: A1(III): Letter from Steere to Penney, 16 November 1881; and UMCA Box List A-F: A1(VI)A: Letter from Thackeray to Leeke, 26 September 1887.
45. BDL: “Home Jottings,” Central Africa, no. 91 (July 1890): 122.
46. See for instance: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A1(IX-XI): Letter from Maples to Bishop, 1887.
47. Zanzibar National Archives (ZNA): AA2-47: Letter from Halliday to Euan-Smith, 31 August 1888
48. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A1(VI)A: Letter from Porter to Child, 30 July 1889.
49. ZNA: AA12-8: “Correspondence Compilation,” March 1862.
50. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A1(III)A: Letter from Steere to Polly, 17 January 1865. See also: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A1(I)A: Letter from Tozer, 21 May 1866; UMCA Box List A-F: A1(VI)B: Letter from Bennett to Travers, 31 October 1889; UMCA Box List A-F: A1(I)A: Small booklet, annual report for 1871–72, 6; and UMCA Box List A-F: A1(I)A: Letter from Tozer to Steere, 21 March 1871.
51. See: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: D8(2): Bishop Steere’s Diary, Friday April 28; and UMCA Box List A-F: A1(III)C: Letter from Pennell to Steere, July 26, No year.
52. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A1(III)B: Letter from Steere to Polly, 19 October 1872.
53. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5: Letter from Majaliwa to Child, 22 August 1895.
54. “Sikuweza kuwaambieni kwa maana harusi ilikuwa ya ghafula, kwa maana kulikuwa na mtu mmoja alikuwa akizuia mimi nisiolewe na huyu mume wangu.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to “Mpenzi,” January 1901.
55. Ibid.
56. See for instance: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to “Mpenzi,” January 1901; UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 25 February 1903; and UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 28 February 1905.
57. “Na maisha ya Wakristu pande hizi ni ya hatari sana kwa sababu katika kijiji kimoja watakuwapo Wakristu wawili au watatu, lakini wengi ni Washenzi tu, bassi mara nyingi wale Wakristu waliopo pale tunapata habari kama kaacha Kikristu … ” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, 25 February 1903.
58. “Bassi hatta sasa twahitaji msaada kwenu ndio SALA zenu pasipo sala zenu sisi hatuna nguvu ya kufanya kazi hii kubwa kwa sababu Washenzi wengi bado kukubali Neno la Muungu … ” Ibid.
59. See: BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 25 February 1903; and UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 23 February 1908.
60. Evangelical Christians were not the only religious community to wrestle with the effects of late-nineteenth century technological and political changes on their spiritual practice. Within the global Muslim community, for instance, there were debates about whether it was permissible to use the telegraph to announce the sighting of a new moon, and thus the end of the Ramadan fast. See: Ogle, Global Transformation, 14 and “Chapter 6: Islamic Calendar Times,” 149–76.
61. “Lakini ninaye Baba mmoja Mbinguni ndie Muungu.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 22 October 1899.
62. BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Sapuli to Child, All Saints Day, 1911.
63. “ … sasa anajua kusoma na kuandika na kushona kidogo.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes and Francis Sapuli to Child, 20 September 1912.
64. Ibid.
65. “Nataka kupata barua zenu na mimi barua hii ndio ya kwanza kwenu nimeandika kwa mkono wangu.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Rose Annie Sapuli to “Watoto wa St. Agnes,” 13 April 1913.
66. “Mungu ndie aliyenipa na imempendeza kuwachukua kwake tena.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 14 September 1909.
67. “ … utamwona katika Photo nimemshika mikononi bassi amefariki, bassi huzuni yangu inazidi tu mwaka huu ni mtu wa huzuni sana.” BDL: UMCA Box List A-F: A5, Letter from Agnes to Child, 30 August 1908.
68. BDL: “Education in Nyasaland, by Augusta M. Smith,” Central Africa, no. 483 (March 1923): 48.
69. BDL: “Canon Broomfield’s Speech on Education,” Central Africa, no. 535 (July 1927): 152.
70. For the pre-WWI pessimism of Bishop Frank Weston,, see: Smith, Frank, Bishop of Zanzibar, 88–9. See also: Wilson, History, 158–9; and Blood, History, 112.
71. Stoner-Eby, “African Leaders Engage Mission Christianity,” 254, and Table 4.3 on 255.
72. Ibid., 264.
73. Biersteker, Kujibizana, 11.
74. Eustace et al., “AHR Conversation,” 1487.
75. See: Prichard, Sisters in Spirit, 4; Prichard, “‘Pool of Love’”; Hunt, “The Affective, the Intellectual, and Gender History”; McMahon, “‘Marrying beneath Herself’”; and Cole and Thomas, Love in Africa. See also Vaughan, “The History of Romantic Love,” 1–23.