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Cape Verde: Crioulo Colony To Independent Nation
The Cape Verde Islands, an Atlantic archipelago off the coast of Senegal, were first settled during the Portuguese Age of Discovery in the fifteenth century. A “Crioulo” population quickly evolved from a small group of Portuguese settlers and large numbers of slaves from the West African coast. In this important new study, Dr. Richard Lobban sketches Cape Verde’s complex history over five centuries, from its role in the slave trade through its years under Portuguese colonial administration and its protracted armed struggle on the Guinea coast for national independence, there and in Cape Verde.Dr. Lobban offers a rich ethnography of the islands, exploring the diverse heritage of Cape Verdeans who have descended from Africans, Europeans, and Luso-Africans. Looking at economics and politics, Lobban reflects on Cape Verde’s efforts to achieve economic growth and development, analyzing the move from colonialism to state socialism and on to a privatized market economy built around tourism, fishing, small-scale mining, and agricultural production. He then chronicles Cape Verde’s peaceful transition from one-party rule to elections and political pluralism. He concludes with an overview of the prospects for this tiny oceanic nation on a pathway to development.
- GenresAfrica
204 pages, Paperback
First published July 2, 1995
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August 10, 2011Among the many distinct pleasures of living here in the DC metro area is the number and range of cultural offerings available to see and do. Everything from the highest of high brow (NSO, Washington Ballet, National Gallery, Freer Gallery) to middle brow (Wolftrap concerts) to the lowest of low brow are here to sample. It can make you forget the weather outside.
August in Washington turns the whole region into a Turkish hamam, where the tropicality leaves a thin film of perspiration on every square inch of surface area on the body, and converts the starchiest Oxford into a gauzy sheet.
Tonight I attended a film (never a movie, of course) or more precisely a documentary film on one significant aspect of the cultural life of the Cape Verde Islands, screened at a charming performance space called BloomBars in Columbia Heights, the "now" neighborhood in DC. "Batuque, a Alma de um Povo" depicts the African roots of a type of dance and percussive music that has family resemblances to forms of cultural expression found in Angola, Mozambique and other lands touched by Portuguese explorers, and now found on the Mothership Portugal, and also even Brazil.
What's nice about this space (it was my first time there) is that the hosts invite a film's director to take questions afterwards via Skype and talk about the making of the piece. This being Washington, the questions from the audience were oriented to the socio-political context of the film, the economics of development and exploitation, democratic elections in the country, the hydroelectric capacity of the natural environment, yadda yadda. I asked sheepishly about Cesaria Evora, who I think is quite the shizzle. The director looked perplexed but then lit up like a fluorescent strip. She is indeed the soul of the Cape Verde people.
Enough said, I want to learn more about this fascinating culture.
August in Washington turns the whole region into a Turkish hamam, where the tropicality leaves a thin film of perspiration on every square inch of surface area on the body, and converts the starchiest Oxford into a gauzy sheet.
Tonight I attended a film (never a movie, of course) or more precisely a documentary film on one significant aspect of the cultural life of the Cape Verde Islands, screened at a charming performance space called BloomBars in Columbia Heights, the "now" neighborhood in DC. "Batuque, a Alma de um Povo" depicts the African roots of a type of dance and percussive music that has family resemblances to forms of cultural expression found in Angola, Mozambique and other lands touched by Portuguese explorers, and now found on the Mothership Portugal, and also even Brazil.
What's nice about this space (it was my first time there) is that the hosts invite a film's director to take questions afterwards via Skype and talk about the making of the piece. This being Washington, the questions from the audience were oriented to the socio-political context of the film, the economics of development and exploitation, democratic elections in the country, the hydroelectric capacity of the natural environment, yadda yadda. I asked sheepishly about Cesaria Evora, who I think is quite the shizzle. The director looked perplexed but then lit up like a fluorescent strip. She is indeed the soul of the Cape Verde people.
Enough said, I want to learn more about this fascinating culture.
March 28, 2019
Felt it was an ok read. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews