Angolanidade ( en, Angolanness or Angolanity) is the

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

.James, W. Martin. ''Historical Dictionary of Angola'', 2004. Page 28. It can also be described as Angolan cultural patriotism. Much of what is today considered angolanidade was created by Angolan intellectuals as a conscious effort to highlight an idealized vision for what it means to be Angolan.

History

Angolanidade began to develop in the 1940s and '50s, when black Angolans started to differentiate themselves from white settlers by embracing and reclaiming aspects of traditional African culture. Angolanidade adopted some aspects of ''

négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...

'', a cultural ideology developed by

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

African intellectuals that emphasized the distinctness of African cultural output. The ideas espoused by the ''négritude'' movement were adapted to Angolan culture by Angolan intellectuals, such as poet

Viriato da Cruz Viriato Clemente da Cruz (25 March 1928 – 13 June 1973) was an Angolan poet and politician, who was born in Kikuvo, Porto Amboim, Portuguese Angola, and died in Beijing, People's Republic of China. He is considered one of the most important Angol ...

. Da Cruz codified the concept of angolanidade in 1948 as a literary movement with the slogan "Let's Discover Angola!," supported by publication of the journal "A Mensagem." Writers within the movement, including

Agostinho Neto António Agostinho da Silva Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) i ...

, later to be Angola's first president, identified and highlighted the culture of Angolan

musseques Squatting in Angola occurs when displaced peoples occupy informal settlements in coastal cities such as the capital Luanda. The Government of Angola has been criticized by human rights groups for forcibly evicting squatters and not resettling ...

, or shanty towns, as a direct counterpoint to the colonial government's perspective that such places were squalid and full of crime. Though the literary movement had largely declined by the 1960s, its cultural influence remained. By the time of the

Angolan War of Independence The Angolan War of Independence (; 1961–1974), called in Angola the ("Armed Struggle of National Liberation"), began as an uprising against forced cultivation of cotton, and it became a multi-faction struggle for the control of Portugal ...

, from 1961-1974, embracing angolanidade and declaring cultural autonomy became a way of pushing back against the oppression of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

Cultural aspects

Writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

, dance,

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, and fashion are major aspects of how angolanidade is created, perpetuated, and expressed. Especially in the capital of

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, which was historically associated with white colonial settlers, black Angolans were encouraged to wear traditional dress as a form of cultural distinction and to build a sense of nationalism among the people. Opting to wear traditional clothing also indicated a refusal to assimilate and therefore lose one's culture in the face of colonialism.

Music and dance

Music and dance are central to the expression of angolanidade. Historian Marissa Moorman argues that it is "in and through popular urban music, produced overwhelmingly in Luanda's musseques, that Angolan men and women forged the nation." Angolan music began to be explicitly political in the 1950s, drawing from and supporting the budding Angolan liberation movements that were starting to take root. A number of members of Angolan bands were members of the

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social d ...

, and their political experiences informed their music, which in turn influenced the politics of their audiences. In choosing to use local instruments and national languages - primarily Kimbundu and

Umbundu Umbundu, or South Mbundu (autonym umb, úmbúndú), one of many Bantu languages, is the most widely-spoken autochthonous language of Angola. Its speakers are known as '' Ovimbundu'' and are an ethnic group constituting a third of Angola's popul ...

- in their music, Angolan musicians rejected assimilation and reinforced the concept of angolanidade.

References

{{Reflist Angolan culture Society of Angola Politics of Angola National identities

History

Cultural aspects

Music and dance

See also

References

Further reading