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"The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret
The "official" narrative of the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (National Front for the Liberation of Angola, or FNLA) as presented by FNLA documents and scholars such as Christine Messiant and Inge Brinkman, paints a picture of a liberation movement that fragmented and lost its credibility...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Historical Studies
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613237931933696 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Claassen, Christian |
| author2 | Field, Sean |
| author_browse | Claassen, Christian Field, Sean |
| author_facet | Field, Sean Claassen, Christian |
| author_sort | Claassen, Christian |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The "official" narrative of the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (National Front for the Liberation of Angola, or FNLA) as presented by FNLA documents and scholars such as Christine Messiant and Inge Brinkman, paints a picture of a liberation movement that fragmented and lost its credibility over time, from its inception in 1962 to its demise in 1978.In part, this was due to the actions, or rather inaction of its authoritarian and highly paranoid leader Holden Roberto. In contrast, however, former FNLA fighters I have interviewed remember the FNLA and Holden Roberto as having been the righteous and just vanguard of the Angolan struggle against Portuguese colonialism, and later against the MPLA Soviet"puppet" regime. For the ex-FNLA fighters, the FNLA stood for progress, inclusivity, and justice, to the extent that many of these former fighters have proclaimed their continued loyalty to the FNLA to this day. By making use of concepts such as memory, myth, as well as senses of place, belonging and identity, this thesis will examine these two divergent narratives, and will posit that the respondents' reflections on the FNLA are ultimately tied to their present identities as forgotten and betrayed war veterans. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20720 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:57.328Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Department of Historical Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Historical Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20720 "The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret Claassen, Christian Field, Sean Mulaudzi, Maanda Historical Studies The "official" narrative of the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (National Front for the Liberation of Angola, or FNLA) as presented by FNLA documents and scholars such as Christine Messiant and Inge Brinkman, paints a picture of a liberation movement that fragmented and lost its credibility over time, from its inception in 1962 to its demise in 1978.In part, this was due to the actions, or rather inaction of its authoritarian and highly paranoid leader Holden Roberto. In contrast, however, former FNLA fighters I have interviewed remember the FNLA and Holden Roberto as having been the righteous and just vanguard of the Angolan struggle against Portuguese colonialism, and later against the MPLA Soviet"puppet" regime. For the ex-FNLA fighters, the FNLA stood for progress, inclusivity, and justice, to the extent that many of these former fighters have proclaimed their continued loyalty to the FNLA to this day. By making use of concepts such as memory, myth, as well as senses of place, belonging and identity, this thesis will examine these two divergent narratives, and will posit that the respondents' reflections on the FNLA are ultimately tied to their present identities as forgotten and betrayed war veterans. 2016-07-25T11:34:51Z 2016-07-25T11:34:51Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20720 eng application/pdf Department of Historical Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Historical Studies Claassen, Christian "The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | "The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret |
| title_full | "The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret |
| title_fullStr | "The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret |
| title_full_unstemmed | "The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret |
| title_short | "The father of the revolution": history, memory and the FNLA veterans of Pomfret |
| title_sort | the father of the revolution history memory and the fnla veterans of pomfret |
| topic | Historical Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20720 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT claassenchristian thefatheroftherevolutionhistorymemoryandthefnlaveteransofpomfret |