Angolan literature has its origins in the mid-19th century. The diversity of
Angola's culture is reflected in the diversity of its
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
, which traditionally has been combative and satirical.
As Angola was a colony of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, it is a
Lusophone
The Portuguese-speaking world, also known as the Lusophone world () or the Lusophony (''Lusofonia''), comprises the countries and territories in which the Portuguese language is an official, administrative, cultural, or secondary language. This ...
country. Most authors write in
Portuguese, though there are many distinct tribes and Portuguese is not the first language of every Angolan. In 2006,
Luandino Vieira was awarded the
Camões Prize, though he declined it and the $128,000
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
prize money for "personal and intimate reasons."
Agostinho Neto
António Agostinho Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan Communism, communist politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the MPLA, Popular Movement for the Liberation of ...
, the first
president of Angola, was a well-known
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
.
Cremilda de Lima is one of the best-known Angolan children's writers.
was the recipient of the 2017
International Dublin Literary Award.
Angolan writers
See also
*
Culture of Angola
The culture of Angola is influenced by the Portuguese. Portugal occupied the coastal enclave Luanda, and later also Benguela, since the 16th/17th centuries, and expanded into the territory of what is now Angola in the 19th/20th centuries, ru ...
References
External links
The Embassy of Angola in India
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