Hegemony, Resistance and Gradations of Memory: The Politics of Remembering Angola’s Liberation Struggle

Abstract:This article explores the political uses of the memory of the Angolan liberation war. It argues that the MPLA’s rise to power in post-independence Angola led to the formation of an official state narrative based upon this movement’s own memory, which gradually developed a script that follows specific rules. The article explores the politicization of the history of the Angolan liberation struggle by comparing official memories with the countermemories presented by other liberation movements to ascertain narrative boundaries. It then examines the shifts and nuances, or what I term gradations of memory, that can be discerned in the narratives offered by a number of prominent MPLA figures later in their lives, which deviate to a certain extent from the “liberation script” supported by the state.