"A nossa lâmpada não se apaga": The Mnemonic Return of Angola's Jonas Savimbi. (23rd March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Martins, Vasco
• Is Part Of: African studies review. Volume 64:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 242
• Page End: 265
• Publication Date: 2021-03-23
• Subjects: Southern Africa, -- Angola, -- memory, -- war, -- liberation, -- UNITA, -- Jonas Savimbi; African philology -- Periodicals; Africa -- Periodicals; 960.05
• DOI: 10.1017/asr.2020.23
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-0206

Abstract

Abstract: 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.