Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a questioning on what seems simultaneously like a lack of interest on Amicar Cabral and an overemphasis on him in Cape Verde. What does a case of such “anti- or over-patrimonialization” signify? Possible explanations deal with the complexity of identities and associated points of view.

Paper long abstract:

Several biographies have been published on Amilcar Cabral in recent years, but none by Cape-Verdeans. Similarly, if one wishes to work on Cabral one has to visit the Mario Soares Foundation in Lisbon rather than in the Cape Verdean national archives which have no holdings on Cabral. At the same time Cabral is at the heart of a celebration of African identity among many Cape-Verdean intellectuals. This situation leads me to posit the hypothesis that we have here a case of simultaneous "anti- or over-patrimonialization"of Cabral. My main line of explanation will deal with the complexity of identities dealing with Cabral's heritage. At stake is, on the one hand, the tension between Cape-Verde and Guinée Bissau, on the other hand diverging perspectives or "culture wars" which are also "memory wars" and even "utopia wars" among islands within the Cape-Verdian archipel: Santiago vs. São Vicente and Praia versus Mindelo.