“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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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor principal: Martins, Vasco (author)
Formato: article
Idioma:eng
Publicado em: 2020
Assuntos:
Texto completo:http://hdl.handle.net/10316/90502
País:Portugal
Oai:oai:estudogeral.sib.uc.pt:10316/90502
Descrição
Resumo: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.