Paper short abstract:

The paper reconstructs how Queen Njinga became a figure of Memory and Nationhood in post-independence Angola.

Paper long abstract:

Based on the examination of a range of primary and secondary written sources, oral interviews conducted with Angolan officials, writers, sobas and average Angolans in Luanda, Malange and Marimba as well as more than 150 questionnaires filled out by Angolans in Luanda, Huambo, and Malange, the paper argues that Njinga's status as a national figure was only informed by the memory that developed about her during the colonial period but was shaped largely by the post-independence politics of nationhood.