Leiden University Student Repository

Brummelhuis, Rafael (2020)

Mozambique: An identity in Crisis

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

After more than 400 years of European imperial powers influencing the region of Mozambique and exploiting its population and a 10 years independence war (1964-1974) Mozambique gained independence in 1975. But the country that FRELIMO inherited was a country with divisions along cultural, linguistic and rural, urban lines. The country lacked a national identity as well as a developed state with resilient and established institutions. The idea of self determination and national identity, in an increasingly globalised world, has become more prominent. This has led to different strategies to aid the creation of a national identity being employed by governments of newly independent African nations. Thus, with the help of academic articles as well as the two documentaries Kuxa Kanema and Treatment of Traitors, this thesis will look at the different strategies employed in the creation of national identity and the challenges in the case of Mozambique after it’s independence until the...Show moreAfter more than 400 years of European imperial powers influencing the region of Mozambique and exploiting its population and a 10 years independence war (1964-1974) Mozambique gained independence in 1975. But the country that FRELIMO inherited was a country with divisions along cultural, linguistic and rural, urban lines. The country lacked a national identity as well as a developed state with resilient and established institutions. The idea of self determination and national identity, in an increasingly globalised world, has become more prominent. This has led to different strategies to aid the creation of a national identity being employed by governments of newly independent African nations. Thus, with the help of academic articles as well as the two documentaries Kuxa Kanema and Treatment of Traitors, this thesis will look at the different strategies employed in the creation of national identity and the challenges in the case of Mozambique after it’s independence until the democratic era of Mozambique. This paper will take a multi-disciplinary approach analyzing the strategies used in the domain of media, politics, linguistics and culture.Therefore, arguing that the multicultural nature of Mozambique could be used to form a Mozambican identity based on duality.Show less

Identity

Multi Culturalism

Cold War

Author

Brummelhuis, Rafael

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

International Studies: Africa

Supervisors

Stathopoulos, Athanasios
Gawthorpe, Andrew

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en