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This oral history of ex-combatants of the Portuguese colonial war places the reader face-to-face with the men who were conscripted to fight the last and bloodiest of the West's colonial wars in Africa, namely in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau (then Portuguese Guinea), between 1961 and 1974. At the forefront of this work are the lived experiences of a wide range of Portuguese veterans, framed by broader insights about the post-war public memory of this event in Portugal. Moving away from stereotypical and polarized images of these ex-combatants, An Oral History of the Portuguese Colonial War: Conscripted Generation explores the memories and consequences of this war for these veterans and their society. Seeking to understand why Portuguese ex-combatants often feel neglected and historically unrecognised, this book presents a thorough portrait of a continually shifting - and at times paradoxical -individual and collective remembrance process.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. War memory theory.- 3. The public memory of the Portuguese colonial war.- 4. Interviewing ex-combatants of the Portuguese colonial war.- 5. Experiences of war.- 6. Living the aftermath.- 7. Conclusion.
About the author
Ângela Campos is a Research Fellow in Science Policy Research at the University of Sussex, UK. She serves on the executive council of the International Oral History Association and is a member of the Oral History Society. Her research focuses mainly on veterans' lived experiences of war, having published internationally about this topic since 2006.
Summary
This oral history of ex-combatants of the Portuguese colonial war places the reader face-to-face with the men who were conscripted to fight the last and bloodiest of the West’s colonial wars in Africa, namely in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau (then Portuguese Guinea), between 1961 and 1974. At the forefront of this work are the lived experiences of a wide range of Portuguese veterans, framed by broader insights about the post-war public memory of this event in Portugal. Moving away from stereotypical and polarized images of these ex-combatants,
An Oral History of the Portuguese Colonial War: Conscripted Generation
explores the memories and consequences of this war for these veterans and their society. Seeking to understand why Portuguese ex-combatants often feel neglected and historically unrecognised, this book presents a thorough portrait of a continually shifting – and at times paradoxical –individual and collective remembrance process.
