ANGOLA. EGO, IDENTITY, AND MEMORY IN THE FACE OF THE RISK OF THE «PARADOX OF ANGOLANITY»

Abstract

The identity of a people is the result of public policies aimed at education and personal development, capable of forging an ego based on the psycho-emotional, cultural, moral, and civic values typical of the macro-society to which they belong. These values are destined to be reproduced over time and space by successive generations. However, in a multicultural and multilingual society such as Angola, the formation of the ego “confronts” two conflicting realities: one based on the formation of sociological values of the micro-societies of the individual’s origin, which favors the inculcation of a type of endogenous, authentic, and “conservative” ego, transmitted from generation to generation, and another based on the values derived from the rule of law, which favors the formation of an ego that is markedly dependent on internal and external dynamics, whose values are subject to constant change. This “conflict” of egos, aggravated by à la carte cultural assimilationism, can condition both the formation of a common identity and the consolidation of a common memory among Angolans. This article is based on basic scientific research, essentially of a qualitative nature, using historical and contextualization methods, whose presentation is based on an interdisciplinary approach between popular knowledge, political sociology, social psychology, and nation-building in a postcolonial context. As a final result, it is hoped that this approach will contribute to understanding the duality in the formation of ego, identity, and memory in Angola.