Remembering the Liberation Struggles in Cape Verde by Cardina, Miguel; Nascimento Rodrigues, Inês;

Short description:

This book explores the ways in which the anti-colonial struggles against the Portuguese colonial empire in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s have been publicly remembered, shedding new light on the complex entanglements between colonial pasts and political memories of anti-colonialism in shaping new nations arising out of liberation struggles.

Long description:

Remembering the Liberation Struggles in Cape Verde: A Mnemohistory takes as its reference from the anti-colonial struggles against the Portuguese colonial empire in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s and the ways this period has been publicly remembered. Drawing on original and detailed empirical research, it presents novel insights into the complex entanglements between colonial pasts and political memories of anti-colonialism in shaping new nations arising out of liberation struggles. Broadening postcolonial memory studies by emphasising underdeveloped research cases, it provides the first comprehensive research into how the liberation struggle is memorialised in Cape Verde and why it changes over time. Proposing an innovative approach to thinking about this historical event as a political subject, the book argues that the "struggle" constitutes a mnemonic device mobilised while negotiating contemporaneous representations related to the Cape Verdean nation, state and society. As such, it will appeal to scholars of history, sociology, anthropology and politics with interests in memory studies and public memory, postcolonialisms and African studies.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Table of Contents:

INTRODUCTION: The Liberation Struggle as a Mnemonic Device

1. THE STRUGGLE AS THE CRADLE OF THE INDEPENDENT NATION





Building the Nation State and the centrality of the struggle




The "return to Africa" through music




The end of the union with Guinea-Bissau and its impacts




Recalibrating memory




Between two ruptures







2. THE STRUGGLE IN THE MNEMONIC TRANSITION





The political transition: causes and processes




The return of removed images




A new paradigm of remembrance




The change in national symbols




The mnemonic transition: reasons and circumstances







3. THE STRUGGLE AND THE IMAGE OF THE COMBATANT





Constructing the liberation struggle combatant




Public recognition and political disputes




The diversification of the image of the "combatant"




A composite memorial framework







4. THE STRUGGLE AND CABRAL’S AFTERLIVES

Crossroads of memory

Questioning Cabral

Alternative representations

The new heirs: Protest and appropriations