Aspects of Angolan Literature: Luandino Vieira and Agostinho Neto

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Periodical article

Title:	Aspects of Angolan Literature: Luandino Vieira and Agostinho Neto
Author:	Chabal, Patrick
Year:	1995
Periodical:	African Languages and Cultures
Volume:	8
Issue:	1
Pages:	19-42
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Angola
Subjects:	literature Literature, Mass Media and the Press
About persons:	António de Agostinho Neto (1922-1979) José Luandino Vieira pseud. for José Vieira Mateus da Graça
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1771733
Abstract:	Modern Angolan literature has its roots in the search for Angolanidade (Angolan identity), that is the movement for cultural autonomy which young writers initiated in the late forties and early fifties. From the beginning, there was a dual strand in Angolan literature. On the one hand, there was a desire to write a specifically Angolan literature, anchored in oral tradition. On the other hand, there was an imperative to produce literature relevant to the anticolonial ambition of this generation of writers. The present article discusses the work of two writers from Angola who represent these two strands of Angolanidade - Luandino Vieira (b. 1935) and Agostinho Neto (1922-1979). Vieira embarked on the deliberate creation of a modern written Angolan literature to reflect the oral and linguistic culture of the capital city, Luanda. Neto, Angola's foremost politician until his death, was for his part committed to the writing of an Angolan poetry to sustain the quest for cultural and, ultimately, political independence. Bibliogr., notes, ref.