Narratives, faces and expressions of the Mozambican post-colonialism in João Paulo Borges Coelho’s novels

Abstract

Postcolonialism of Portuguese expression and language has been approached as an hegemonic element in the thoughts and ideas between the various former Portuguese colonies in Africa. However, we must be careful, when thinking about the post-colonial condition in an epistemological way, to equate, in a contextualized way, the cultural loci, the idiosyncratic aspects, and the historical and social conditions of the object of study. I intend to defy previous hegemony with this present work, proposing instead that there is, undoubtedly, a Mozambican post-colonialism, even if it is expressed in the Portuguese language. My attempt to break boundaries, to compile and analyse narratives, memories and manifestations of negotiating a Mozambican post-coloniality can be captured through the Mozambican author João Paulo Borges Coelho, namely through the novels As visitas do Dr Valdez, Crónica da Rua 513.2, and, more recently, Campo de trânsito. Departing from a contextualised reading and analysis, it thus remains for us to reflect on how and what fissures, margins, memories and faces have emerged from a Mozambique that searches for its nation, dreamt up and longed-for by the poet José Craveirinha.