An Oral History of the Portuguese Colonial War: Conscripted Generation (Palgrave Studies in Oral History) - Softcover

Campos, Ângela

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3319834657 ISBN 13: 9783319834658

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Synopsis

This oral history of ex-combatants of the Portuguese colonial war places the reader face-to-face with the men who were conscripted to fight the last and bloodiest of the West’s colonial wars in Africa, namely in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau (then Portuguese Guinea), between 1961 and 1974. At the forefront of this work are the lived experiences of a wide range of Portuguese veterans, framed by broader insights about the post-war public memory of this event in Portugal. Moving away from stereotypical and polarized images of these ex-combatants, An Oral History of the Portuguese Colonial War: Conscripted Generation explores the memories and consequences of this war for these veterans and their society. Seeking to understand why Portuguese ex-combatants often feel neglected and historically unrecognised, this book presents a thorough portrait of a continually shifting – and at times paradoxical –

individual and collective remembrance process.

About this title

About the Author

Ângela Campos is a Research Fellow in Science Policy Research at the University of Sussex, UK. She serves on the executive council of the International Oral History Association and is a member of the Oral History Society. Her research focuses mainly on veterans' lived experiences of war, having published internationally about this topic since 2006.

From the Back Cover

This book explores the lived memory of the Portuguese colonial war (1961-1974) through the analysis of thirty-six oral history interviews with ex-combatants of this conflict. The meanings that the combatants attributed to their war experiences then and now are the book’s analytical focus. This project seeks to answer the following questions: how has the public memory of this colonial conflict developed in Portugal from 1974 to approximately 2010? what issues does an oral historian encounter when conducting interviews with veterans on a past that remains traumatic for many? what were – and are – the most significant aspects of the war experience and its aftermath for the veterans? how do the veterans perceive their group identity and their historical situation? and what innovative perspectives does oral history offer to the historiography of the Portuguese colonial war?

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3319834657
• ISBN 13: 9783319834658
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 358