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Martins, V. (2015). Ovimbundu identity attributions in post-war Angola. Journal of Southern African Studies. 41 (4), 853-867

V. M. Martins,  "Ovimbundu identity attributions in post-war Angola", in Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 853-867, 2015

@article{martins2015_1734834816866,
	author = "Martins, V.",
	title = "Ovimbundu identity attributions in post-war Angola",
	journal = "Journal of Southern African Studies",
	year = "2015",
	volume = "41",
	number = "4",
	doi = "10.1080/03057070.2015.1052625",
	pages = "853-867",
	url = "http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2015.1052625"
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Ovimbundu identity attributions in post-war Angola
T2  - Journal of Southern African Studies
VL  - 41
IS  - 4
AU  - Martins, V.
PY  - 2015
SP  - 853-867
SN  - 0305-7070
DO  - 10.1080/03057070.2015.1052625
UR  - http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2015.1052625
AB  - This article explores the attribution of political identity to the Ovimbundu ethnic group of
Angola during the post-war period. It examines specific historical periods and political
debates to reveal negative stereotypes popularly used to associate this ethnic group with the
Unia˜o Nacional para a Independeˆncia Total de Angola (UNITA), a practice still present
today. Academic scholarship concerning the ethnic debate about Angola is still embryonic.
This paper negotiates a new approach by looking at ethnic stereotypes as enduring means of
attributing political identity to a specific ethnic group, while taking into account the views of
those targeted by such identity attributions. Having explored how UNITA mobilised the
Ovimbundu for political gains, the paper uses interview data collected in the central
highlands to demonstrate not only the attribution of stereotypes but also the Ovimbundu’s
own perception of themselves as a ‘marginal other’. It is in the group’s interaction with wider
Angolan society that such stereotypes are summoned and shaped in the pejorative epithets
‘bailundo’, ‘kwacha’ and ‘sulano’. The article concludes that decades of ethnic manipulation
provided various identity connotations, based on ethno-regional and socio-political criteria.
These were often contrary to actual Ovimbundu outlooks, but still served as limiting factors to
their social, political and economic integration. Thus the Ovimbundu’s own perception of
their marginalisation has been reinforced.
ER  -