Mozambican literature

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Under Mozambican literature on is Portuguese authored literature Mozambican authors understood. Since Mozambique was part of the Portuguese colonial empire until 1975 , there is inevitably an overlap with Portuguese literature . For this reason, this article also lists authors who had citizenship other than Mozambique or who only lived in Mozambique for a short time, but whose works are part of Mozambican literary history or who had a major influence on other Mozambican literature. Mozambican literature is very young, as it has only been possible to speak of Mozambican national literature in the narrower sense since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975. The interest in Mozambican literature as a research subject independent of Portuguese literature therefore only arose in the 1970s as part of post-colonial theory formation . Since this article could suggest that Mozambican literature is a uniform phenomenon, it should be pointed out that it is a very heterogeneous literature that is still in the making.

Problem of the concept of "national literature"

The Portuguese colonial empire until 1975

The concept of national literature originated in the Romantic era in the 19th century. Literature is understood as a form of manifestation of the “folk spirit”, i.e. a national culture. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony for centuries. After a ten-year war of independence , the colony was only granted independence after the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and thus the end of the dictatorship in Portugal in 1975. Since the national statehood in Mozambique was only realized with independence in 1975, but there was statehood for centuries by the colonial rulers, the Mozambican national culture did not "naturally grow". Rather, the Mozambican nation was heavily influenced by Portuguese culture from the start.

This is particularly evident in the adoption of the Portuguese language. Since over a dozen languages ​​are spoken in Mozambique ( Bantu languages ) for which there was practically no written tradition, the Portuguese language was adopted as the "língua de unidade nacional" (language of national unity). The reasons for this are historical and practical. On the one hand, the Mozambican elite in the cities adopted the language of the Portuguese colonial rulers early on, as many intellectuals studied in Portugal and their assimilation to Portuguese culture offered opportunities for social advancement. On the other hand, there was (and does not exist) a native language that is understood by all Mozambicans, so Portuguese is a lingua franca for all of Mozambique. Since the literature in native languages ​​was only available in oral form, these were out of the question for the creation of a written national literature. In addition, Portuguese allowed the connection to other Portuguese-speaking countries such as Angola , the former mother country Portugal or other former Portuguese colonies such as Brazil , Guinea-Bissau , Cape Verde or São Tomé and Príncipe . At the time of independence, the illiteracy rate of the Mozambican population was 95%, the highest of all former African colonies. For these reasons, the Mozambican liberation movement FRELIMO chose Portuguese as the language of its literacy campaign during the independence struggle and used it to spread its Marxist- nationalist ideology.

This made Portuguese the literary language of the country. Most Mozambican writers use Portuguese these days, as many of them grew up in large cities and no longer speak an African language as their mother tongue. In addition, in view of the still high illiteracy rate in Mozambique, Portuguese promises a larger readership abroad (in Europe, but also in Brazil and the other Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa and Asia). Nevertheless, you see yourself as the creator of an independent national literature.

Periodization of Mozambican literature

1st phase 1854–1924 - preparation

Since the printing press was only introduced in Mozambique in 1854, printed literature first appeared in Mozambique in the mid-19th century. The colony initially experienced very little literary production. An exception was the native Mozambican Campos Oliveira (1847-1911), who published numerous poems while studying law in Portuguese India . Even after his return to Mozambique in 1866, he continued to publish and also founded magazines such as the Revista Africana and the Almanach Popular .

The actual creation of literary texts in Mozambique did not begin until the beginning of the 20th century. Supported by an assimilated intellectual class in the cities, which essentially consisted of mestizos and mulattos , a genuinely Mozambican Portuguese-language literature emerged. In 1920, the Grémio Africano, Mozambique's first cultural association, was founded. In this association, in contrast to later cultural associations, in which strictly segregated according to race, both blacks and mulattos were allowed. During this time, numerous magazines were founded. Among the most important magazines were O Africano (1909–1918), which was founded by the brothers José and João Albasini . After the magazine was sold in 1918, the brothers, together with Estácio Dias and Karel Pott, founded the magazine O Brado Africano (1918–1974), in which many important Mozambican writers published their first works. The group of authors who published in this magazine openly campaigned for the interests of blacks in the colony. O Brado Africano shaped an entire generation of writers and led to the gradual emergence of an African self-confidence.

2nd phase: 1925–1946 - creation

The posthumously published work O livro da dor by João Albasini, a collection of short and personal reflections, is considered the first work in Mozambican narrative literature . With this publication the second phase in the development of Mozambican literature began. This phase is characterized by the imitation of European literature. Many Mozambicans at that time spoke only broken Portuguese and were therefore despised by the whites, but also by educated mestizos. For this reason, the authors tried to imitate the European model as closely as possible. This can be seen, among other things, in the choice of genera. For a large part of his works, the poet Rui de Noronha chose the poem form of the sonnet , a classical European genre.

In general, poetry predominated in literary production at the time. Sousa Ribeiro published Symphonia conspirante as his first work of poetry in 1928 . Augusto Conrado published the volume of poetry A Perjura ou a Mulher de Duplo Amor in 1931 , Fibras d'um coração in 1933 and Divagações in 1938 . Rui de Noronha is considered to be a forerunner of genuinely Mozambican poetry , who in his poems addressed the situation of blacks and mestizos and thus pointed out the negative sides of colonialism . Noronha was also the first Mozambican writer to attempt to introduce the oral traditions of his country into literature and thus break away from European models.

In the 1930s, Rui Knopfli also started publishing as a journalist. In 1941 the magazine Itinerário was founded (1941–1955). The magazine dealt with social, literary and cultural problems in Mozambique and thereby contributed to the development of a national identity.

The establishment of the Estado Novo in 1933 and the associated censorship delayed the development of Mozambican national literature. Compared to the French and British colonies, freedom of expression and freedom of the press were even more restricted in Mozambique . For this reason, the Mozambican developments in Portugal were hardly noticed. At the same time, the repression led to a politicization of literature and the development of an African consciousness. This phase ended in 1946 with the posthumous publication of the Sonetos by Rui de Noronha.

3rd phase: 1946–1963 - emancipation

While the previous phase was characterized by the imitation of European literature, the phase beginning around 1946 characterizes a comprehensive reorientation. Influenced by Portuguese neorealism and the Négritude movement, Mozambican writers increasingly addressed the differences to the Portuguese colonial rulers. Mozambican literature emancipated itself from Portuguese literature during this time, so that from this time on one can speak of the development of a real national literature.

The Négritude movement was founded in 1934 by Léopold Senghor , Aimé Césaire and Léon Damas . Her main concern was the return to African culture. The fundamental difference between Africa and Europe was emphasized. Africa was seen as the antipode of Europe and idealized as "mother Africa". Négritude understood music and dance as specific forms of expression of African culture. This essentialist view of African culture and "the African as such", which overemphasizes the importance of skin color for the development of a certain culture, overlooked the social, economic, cultural and political peculiarities of the various African countries, but it was extremely effective. to awaken the emerging national feeling of the colonized Africans. A significant element of this movement was the upgrading of orality as a form of African literature. To this day, the “oral tradition” plays a central role in Mozambican literature.

The Moçambicanidade can be regarded as a specific form of expression of the Négritude in Mozambique . After the Mozambican elite had largely adapted to the whites, they now increasingly advocated a separation of African and European ideas. Portuguese colonialism was increasingly rejected, also by whites like Rui Knopfli or Orlando Mendes .

This reorientation was also reflected in the literature. The motif of Mãe-África (mother Africa) or the recurring adjective negro (black) can often be found in the literature of this time. In addition to emphasizing one's own Africanity and black skin color, literature now also adopted African style elements more than in the previous phase. She thereby articulated the rejection of colonialism and the desire for freedom and independence.

One of the most important writers was Noémia de Sousa . She is considered the main representative of the Moçambicanidade . Probably without knowing the French Négritude, she combined neorealism with concepts of the North American Black Renaissance , Haitian Indigenism and Cuban Negrism . She published all of her poems between 1948 and 1951. When she had to leave the country in 1951 due to political repression, she left a notebook with 43 poems, which were published in 1988 as an anthology with the title "Sangue negro". Your plea for an independent Mozambican literature had a strong influence on the Mozambican poets of the 1950s.

Another representative of the Moçambicanidade was José Craveirinha . He is considered to be the father of Mozambican literature, as his period of work spanned from the 1940s until his death in 2003. With his extensive work, he shaped generations of Mozambican writers and was Mozambique's most widely read author between 1945 and 1965.

In addition to these two great poets of the Moçambicanidade, the following authors were important:

João Dias , whose work Godido e outros contos, published posthumously in 1952, is considered the first fictional work in Mozambican literature, in which poetry has so far dominated. The poet Rui Nogar , who did not publish a book of his own, but continuously published poems in magazines. The aforementioned Rui Knopfli , whose first volume of poetry appeared in 1959 with the title O país dos outros . In addition, the writers Virgílio de Lemos , Ruy Guerra , Fonseca Amaral , António Bronze and Orlando Mendes should be mentioned.

Due to political repression, this phase of Mozambican literature is strongly characterized by the formation of different groups. One such group was the Casa dos Estudantes do Império , an association of Portuguese, Angolan, Cape Verdean and Mozambican students in Lisbon that has been in existence since 1944 and campaigned for the interests of the colonies. From 1948 the nationalist-minded magazine Mensagem was published at irregular intervals .

In 1951 the anthology Poesia em Moçambique with 38 poems by 23 poets by Orlando de Albuquerque and Vítor Evaristo was published in Lisbon . In contrast to the prevailing idea that Mozambique is part of Portugal, it was already made clear in the title that Mozambique was seen as something independent. In 1952 the only issue of the magazine Msaho appeared , which on Chope refers to an African dance. Due to its critical and nationalistic content, the magazine was banned from censorship after the first issue. In addition to the Mozambicans Noémia de Sousa , Alberto Lacerda , Duarte Galvão and Ruy Guerra , the Portuguese Augusto dos Santos Abranches , Cordeiro de Brito and Reinaldo Ferreira were also involved in the publication of Zeitstufe . In addition to the above, other magazines were founded that criticized the Salazar regime: Moçambique 58/59 (supplement to the Notícias ), A Voz de Moçambique (1960–1975) and Paralelo 20 (1957–1961, 11 issues).

The highlight of this phase is considered to be the publication of the anthology Poetas de Moçambique in 1960, which was published in Lisbon by Mozambicans who had worked for Itinerário and O Brado Africano . In the course of the publication of the new edition in 1962, a dispute arose between Rui Knopfli, Rodrigues Júnior and the editor of the anthology over the question of who could be considered a European and who a Mozambican writer. The decisive factor is not the color of the skin, but the content of the works, which can be seen from the fact that numerous whites were involved in the freedom struggle of the colored Mozambicans.

In 1963, the Núcleo dos Estudantes Secundários Africanos de Moçambique (NESAM) (Circle of African Students in Mozambique) was founded in the Mozambican capital Lourenço Marques (today Maputo ) . The main representatives of this group were Marcelino Comiche , Albino Magaia and Armando Guebuza . It was a cultural association that sought study grants for black Mozambicans, as well as organized lectures, discussions and film screenings, and maintained its own library. From 1965, legal activities in the cultural field were no longer possible, and the association was banned.

In 1962, the first party congress of the Frente da Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO) (Mozambique Liberation Front) took place in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania . This Marxist party called for Mozambique's independence from Portugal and led the fight against the colonial power from 1964 to 1975. Numerous writers sympathized with the movement and some took up positions within the party. Many writers, such as José Craveirinha and Rui Nogar, were arrested by the Portuguese secret police PIDE because of their membership in FRELIMO . This phase of Mozambican literature ended with the beginning of the armed war of independence in 1964.

See also

literature

  • Joana Daniela Martins Vilaça de Faria: Mia Couto - Luandino Vieira: uma leitura em travessia pela escrita criativa ao serviço das identidades. Universidade do Minho 2005. Online: PDF
  • Maria Fernanda Afonso: O conto moçambicano. Lisbon 2004. ISBN 972-21-1634-7
  • Patrick Chabal: Vozes moçambicanas. Literatura e Nacionalidade. Lisbon 1994. ISBN 972-699-438-1
  • Patrick Chabal: The post-colonial literature of Lusophone Africa. London 1996, pp. 29-102. ISBN 1-85065-250-3
  • Maria Nazareth Soares Fonseca / Terezinha Taborda Moreira: Panorama das literaturas africanas de língua portuguesa. Online: PDF
  • Francisco Noa: Literatura colonial em Mozambique: o paradigma submerso. In: Via Atlântica 3 (1999), pp. 58-68. Online: PDF
  • Pires Laranjeira: Literaturas Africanas de Expressão Portuguesa. Lisbon 1995. ISBN 972-674-129-7
  • Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Patrick Chabal: Vozes moçambicanas. Literatura e Nacionalidade. Lisbon 1994. ISBN 972-699-438-1 , pp. 15ff.
  2. ^ A b Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 58.
  3. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 64.
  4. ^ Pires Laranjeira: Literaturas Africanas de Expressão Portuguesa. Lisbon 1995. ISBN 972-674-129-7 , p. 18.
  5. ^ A b Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 70.
  6. ↑ Patrick Chabal: Vozes moçambicanas. Literatura e Nacionalidade. Lisbon 1994. ISBN 972-699-438-1 , p. 40.
  7. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 73.
  8. ↑ a b Pires Laranjeira: Literaturas Africanas de Expressão Portuguesa. Lisbon 1995. ISBN 972-674-129-7 , p. 257.
  9. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 77.
  10. ^ Maria Nazareth Soares Fonseca / Terezinha Taborda Moreira: Panorama das literaturas africanas de língua portuguesa. ( Memento of the original from November 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 245 kB), p. 28. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ich.pucminas.br
  11. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 78.
  12. ^ Pires Laranjeira: Literaturas Africanas de Expressão Portuguesa. Lisbon 1995. ISBN 972-674-129-7 , p. 260.
  13. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 90.
  14. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 81.
  15. ↑ Joana Daniela Martins Vilaça de Faria: Mia Couto - Luandino Vieira: uma leitura em travessia pela escrita criativa ao serviço das identidades. (PDF; 700 kB) Universidade do Minho 2005, p. 15.
  16. ^ Pires Laranjeira: Literaturas Africanas de Expressão Portuguesa. Lisbon 1995. ISBN 972-674-129-7 , p. 270.
  17. ↑ Joana Daniela Martins Vilaça de Faria: Mia Couto - Luandino Vieira: uma leitura em travessia pela escrita criativa ao serviço das identidades. (PDF; 700 kB) Universidade do Minho 2005, p. 16.
  18. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 82.
  19. ^ Maria Nazareth Soares Fonseca / Terezinha Taborda Moreira: Panorama das literaturas africanas de língua portuguesa. ( Memento of the original from November 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 245 kB), p. 27. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ich.pucminas.br
  20. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 87.
  21. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 91.
  22. ^ Gerhard Schönberger: Mozambican Literature Portuguese Language: Origin and Problems of a National Literature. Frankfurt a. M. 2002. ISBN 3-927884-59-6 , p. 94.