O feitiço do moderno : Jonas Savimbi e seus projetos de nação angolana (1966-1988)

Abstract

During the late half of the XX century, the African states’ nation building process was deeply influenced by the relationship between two sets of very different ideologies. The historical figures that led the struggle for the liberations of their countries were heavily influenced by modernist European theories, as well as many ancient traditions kept alive by the African people. For almost thirty years, Angola faced a bloody civil war between its many different nationalist movements and their political and national agendas. This thesis analyses both the manifestation and constant reshuffle of Jonas Malheiro Savimbi’s nationalist speeches between his early political years (late 1950’s) and the end of the Cold War (late 1980’s). Founder and leader of the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA), Savimbi’s political and nationalist stances are analyzed not only by their historical contexts, but also by their correlation with theories that seek to examine the many forms and social manifestations taken by the notion of nationalism and national identity. Considering this twofold analytic perspective, this thesis intends to underline the importance of Jonas Savimbi’s legacy to the process of nation building in Angola.