Timbila, cultura chop e a construção de Moçambique pós-independente (1975-2017)

Abstract

The intention of this research is to analyze and discuss the ways of inscribing and (re) positioning timbila and chopi culture in Mozambican national identity. Agronomized as a symbol and fundamental cultural practice for the construction of national identity in Mozambique, an African territory that conquered its independence and became a sovereign national state in June 1975, after approximately a decade of armed struggle against Portuguese colonialism. The timbila, a cultural manifestation characteristic of the Chopi, one of the several Mozambican ethnic-linguistic groups, would be proclaimed the 2005 Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In this research, in the perspective of a social history of culture, we intend to problematize some moments of the (re) positioning of timbila, which closely related the chopi, became notable as a structuring instrument for (re) identity construction in Mozambique. Social history is characterized by focusing on subaltern groups, as well as on relationships, such as conflicts and tensions, between the so-called below and the above (HOBSBAWN, 2008). The general objective of this research is to analyze the insertion of timbila and chopi culture in the construction project of the Mozambican identity. Discourses and practices of identity, culture, ethnicity, nation, tradition and modernity, expressed in different ways of inscribing culture and timbila chopi, are discussed. The question of how to register and (re) position the timbila and chopi culture in the context of the definition of the post-independent Mozambican nation by the middle of 2017 should be problematized. From the methodological point of view, firstly, diverse documentation was identified regarding timbila and chopi culture, written texts and images available in essays, articles and books produced by scholars and intellectuals, lyrics and songs, propaganda and other means of diffusion characteristic of the world wide web, such as blogs, websites and the like, as well as different registers and testimonies of subjects producing those cultural organizations in which an attempt is made to construct an idea of Mozambique based on timbila and chopi culture. At the same time, bibliographical research was carried out on the history of Mozambique in the 20th century, as well as articles, dissertations and books on the subject.