Moderator: Júlia Garraio (CES)


About

The present reflection explores the impact of Christian evangelization on the promotion and formation of a 'modern' European-style ethnic identity within Angola's largest ethnic group, the Ovimbundu. In this talk I propose to analyse the processes of evangelization undertaken by Catholic and Protestant missionaries in Angola, whose action, extending far beyond a commonly noted proselytism, focused on the adaptation, reformulation and reinvention of customs and traditions, imaginaries and representations, introducing new forms of political, social and economic organization. Based on one of the chapters of the book Colonialism, Ethnicity and War in Angola (2021), this paper explores four consequences of Christian evangelizing action in Angola that contributed to the crystallization of Ovimbundu ethnic identity: new imaginaries of community; the codification of the vernacular language and subsequent edification of an education system; re-adaptation of spaces, methods and everyday life in the 'new' Christian villages; and the creation of a new type of elite in Angola, expert in navigating both the so-called 'modern' and the so-called 'traditional' worlds.

Bio note
Vasco Martins is a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra where he is engaged in research within the project "CROME - Crossed Memories, Politics of Silence: The Colonial-Liberation Wars in Postcolonial Times". He holds a PhD in African Studies from the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa and an MA in Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict from the University of London. He is the author of several articles on memory, war, ethnicity and nationalism and recently published the book Colonialism, Ethnicity and War in Angola by Routledge.

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This activity will be provided through Zoom platform and does not require registration. Participation is limited to the number of places available>>https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82576958111?pwd=24GuzaR63fFE-hiNYmnHEeTRS1CXFz.1 | ID: 825 7695 8111 | Password: 880626

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