Nação e identidade: a busca da construção da nação angolana em Pepetela. (1980 a 1997)

Abstract

This research aims to discuss some of the works of Arthur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos, from which I intend to approach how in his literature This novelist indicates the construction of the Angolan nation. Exposing a consideration of the relationship between History and Literature. Considering how historians can work with literature as a historical source. The novels of Angolan writer Arthur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos (known as Pepetela) will be considered social documents, because they are fictitious works, but which were produced at the time of the writer's experience, who actively participated in the struggles, being a militant, in the political moment in question, in this case the search for independence Angolan. Angola, an African country, was populated by the Portuguese in the last decades of the century XV and remained its colony until independence in 1975. The first European to reaching Angola was the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão, who disembarked at the mouth of Rio Congo in 1483. In 1490, the Portuguese sent a small fleet of ships with priests, workers and tools for the King of Congo. In a brief space of occupation, the slave trade led to the deterioration of Portugal's relations with King Afonso and his successors, and internal revolts led to the decline of the Kingdom of Congo. Meanwhile, the Portuguese expanded their contacts to south along the coast, founding Luanda in 1576. The slave trade continued until around the middle of the 19th century, with Angola serving as the largest source of labor work for Brazilian plantations. Dissatisfied with the Portuguese government, Angolans began to fight for independence, starting the war against Portugal in 1961. In January 1975 it was A transitional government was established, with representatives from the Freedom Movement of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), The Union National Council for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and the Portuguese government. However, violent fighting between the MPLA and FNLA in March 1975 resulted in the various “political differences” that continued in the country. In the second half Since 1975, control of Angola was divided between the three largest nationalist groups, each one of which was helped by foreign powers. The MPLA, which had taken control of the Capital, was supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba, the FNLA by Zaire and other powers Western forces (with the United States) while UNITA was supported by Southern forces African. The FNLA and UNITA formed a united front to fight the MPLA