The Time of the Leaflet

Pamphlets and Political Communication in the Upa (Northern Angola, Around 1961)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2103036
AutoresI Brinkman (0000-0002-8087-9013, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen85
Número2
Páginas221-244
Fecha de publicación2015-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s000197201400103x
OpenAlexW2037248400
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas21

In March 1961, war broke out in Northern Angola. The Portuguese authorities attributed the violence to the UPA - a nationalist movement led by Northern Angolan immigrants resident in Congo. The movement's leadership tried to keep in contact with its (potential) followers in Northern Angola by various means, pamphlets being one of the most important. Written for a local audience, these pamphlets provide an insight into the inner lines of communication - and internal hierarchies - of the nationalist movement. By using Darnton's 'communication circuit' model, this article investigates the processes of writing, distributing and reading the pamphlets and analyses their generic characteristics, and their position in a tradition of regional popular literacy. In so doing, an interpretation is offered of the social history of the pamphlets: they are treated as a historical subject in their own right. While they can be read as anti-colonial tracts, it is shown that the pamphlets' main concern is to establish the mandate of a leadership in exile over a constituency in Northern Angola

Interpretation (philosophy · Mandate · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Portuguese · Sociology · Subject (documents · African history and culture studies · Gender Studies · History · Law