Intonations: A Social History of Music and Nation in Luanda, Angola, from 1945 to Recent Times

318 Pages·2008·2.64 MB·English

by  Marissa J. Moorman

N E W A F R I C A N H I S T O R I E S
INTONATIONS
A Social History of Music and
Nation in Luanda, Angola,
from 1945 to Recent Times
Marissa J. Moorman
Intonations
n e w a f r i c a n h i s to r i e s s e r i e s
Series editors: Jean Allman and Allen Isaacman
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Marissa J. Moorman, Intonations: A Social History of Music
and Nation in Luanda, Angola, from 1945 to Recent Times
Intonations
A Social History of Music and Nation in
Luanda, Angola, from 1945 to Recent Times
w
Marissa J. Moorman
ohio university press
athens
Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Moorman, Marissa Jean.
Intonations : a social history of music and nation in Luanda, Angola, from
1945 to recent times / Marissa J. Moorman.
p.cm. — (New African histories series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8214-1823-9 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8214-1824-6 (pb : alk.
paper)
1. Music—Social aspects—Angola—Luanda (Luanda) 2. Music—Political
aspects—Angola. 3. Nationalism in music. 4. Angola—History—Revolution,
1961–1975—Music and the revolution. 5. Angola—History—Civil War,
1975–2002—Music and the war. I. Title.
ML3917.A65M66 2008
306.4'8423096732—dc22
2008026805
For my parents, Carol and Michael Moorman

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Music on CD xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations and Terms xix
Timeline of Nationalism and Independence in Angola xxiii
Timeline of Angolan Music xxv
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Musseques and Urban Culture 28
Chapter 2 Inthe Days of Bota Fogo: Culture and
the Early Nationalist Struggle, 1947–61 56
Chapter 3 Dueling Bands and Good Girls: Gender and
Music in Luanda’s Musseques, 1961–75 81
Chapter 4 “Ngongo Jami” (My Suffering): Lyrics, Daily Life,
and Musical Space, 1956–74 110
Chapter 5 Radios, Turntables, and Vinyl: Technology and
the Imagined Community, 1961–75 140
Chapter 6 The Hiatus: Music, Dissent, and Nation Building
after Independence, 1975–90s 165
Epilogue 190
Notes 197
Bibliography 255
Index 275
Introduction w vii

Illustrations
Mapof Angola xxvi
Map of Luanda’s musseques, c. 1968 29
Women of Luanda 62
Rebita dance group performing, 2001 63
Housing in Bairro Indígena 69
Os Kiezos at a musseque club, early 1970s 99
Belita Palma album cover 104
Urbano de Castro album cover 105
Alba Clyngton album cover 115
Ngola Melodias album cover 116
“Traditional” Angolan dance 118
Map of radio stations in Angola, 1975 145
Ngola Ritmos album cover 158
Garda and Her Band album cover 159
Ngoleiros do Ritmo album cover 160
Paulo Pinheiro album cover 178
Emancipation of the Angolan Woman album cover 183
Preface w ix