New evidence on Aphra Behn's stay in Surinam.

Oroonoko,(1) whose autobiographical and factual elements are now acknowledged, still offers ground for discoveries which are new evidence on Aphra Behn's stay in Surinam.

As far as Africa is concerned, Aphra Behn refers to the country where Oroonoko was a prince as 'Coramantien' (31). In his Note published in April 1960, J.A. Ramsaran already stressed that the Royal Slave was actually a 'Koromantse or Koromante'.(2) However it should be first noted that Aphra Behn's translation seems to be the only one of its kind, since French and English contemporaries refer to the African fort or region as 'Kormantin (-tyn)' or 'Coramantine'; indeed the translation 'Coramantien' is nearer the original pronunciation by the Africans who

came from Ndjadum. ... …