“A nossa lâmpada não se apaga”: The Mnemonic Return of Angola’s Jonas Savimbi
Rehabilitating the legacy of deceased leaders is a phenomenon particularly salient in Southern Africa, insofar as memories of liberation wars provoke considerable debate. After a protracted civil war, Angolans remain divided about the contributions of their historical leaders. Jonas Savimbi sits at...
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| Format: | article |
| Language: | eng |
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2020
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10316/90502 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Oai: | oai:estudogeral.sib.uc.pt:10316/90502 |
| Summary: | Rehabilitating the legacy of deceased leaders is a phenomenon particularly salient in Southern Africa, insofar as memories of liberation wars provoke considerable debate. After a protracted civil war, Angolans remain divided about the contributions of their historical leaders. Jonas Savimbi sits at the center of this division, a binary representation of both heroism and villainy. Martins demonstrates how Savimbi’s memory is invoked both as a moral source of hope for an alternative Angola—one imagined and disseminated by Savimbi and UNITA and appropriated by social protest—and as a technology of fear and control employed by the MPLA to assert political dominance. |
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