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Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on the changes in the dynamics of social and political representation of a group of Angolan students who came to Czechoslovakia during the normalization period.The focus is on language as a factor in the construction of otherness,(in)acceptance and narratively constructed identity.

Paper long abstract:

This paper, based on the analysis of biographical interviews, focuses on the changes in the dynamics of social and political representation of a group of Angolan students who came to Czechoslovakia during the normalization period for exchange study programs within the framework of international agreements on scientific and technical cooperation.The focus is primarily on language and from Czech society as a factor in the construction of otherness, (in)acceptance, but also narratively constructed individual and collective identity of the Angolans in a different socio-cultural environment.The integration barriers that the Angolan students encountered and had to overcome are also highlighted.Upon arrival in the Czechoslovakia, the Angolans were not proficient in Czech language, could not know their way in the new environment and were dependent on scholarship financial support. They were also carriers of different linguistic, religious and cultural forms of knowledge, very few of which were appreciated by the majority in the new society.The pressure from Czech society created by the contact of Angolans with the majority society is a central motif that led to a rethinking of previous customs, meanings and ways of life became one of the central forces influencing the (re)formation of identity throughout their lives.The Czech language became an important element in the (re)construction of cultural identity and influenced a variety of discursive and social practices through which they continue to form, maintain and reproduce their identity,which they have used and continue to use in social interactions narratively in a form of communicative memory.