History and Anthropology, Vol. 22, No. 1, March 2011, pp. 93–119 ISSN 0275–7206 print/ISSN 1477–2612 online/11/010093–27 © 2011 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/02757206.2011.546854 Unstable Biographies. The Ethnography of Memory and Historicity in an Angolan Prophetic Movement Ruy Llera Blanes Taylor and Francis GHAN_A_546854.sgm 10.1080/02757206.2011.546854 History and Anthropology 0275-7206 (print)/1477-2612 (online) Original Article 2011 Taylor & Francis 22 1 0000001 March 2011 Dr RuyBlanes ruy.blanes@gmail.com In this article I discuss issues of memory and historicity in a contemporary African prophetic movement, the Tokoist church. I do so by focusing on the multiple processes of “biographization” of the prophet’s (Simão Toko) life from the different allegiances within the movement. I suggest that, despite recent critiques on the biographical method, the ethnography of those (unstable and heterogeneous) processes can be very helpful to understand the place of memory and historical consciousness in contemporary Christianity. Keywords: Memory; Biography; Ethnography; Tokoist church; Angola Simão Toko é o nome do redentor O povo inteiro proclama a salvação Na Nova Jerusalém os anjos se encontrarão 1 In December 2007, I arrived at the Golfe district of Luanda, Angola with my colleagues and friends Ramon Sarró and Fátima Viegas to visit the main temple of the Tokoist Church, by invitation of its leader Bishop Afonso Nunes. 2 We had been invited to his headquarters after attending the Sunday service before more than 10,000 believers in a warehouse that served as provisional space for services, while the official temple, set to house more than 50,000 people, was being built. After taking off our shoes, we entered into his office—where, in contrast with what was happening in the premises, silence prevailed, and a strong scent of perfume filled the air; a sheet of white linen covered the Correspondence to: Dr Ruy Llera Blanes, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Avenida Prof. Anibal Bettencourt 9, Lisbon, 1600–189, Portugal. Email: ruy.blanes@gmail.com Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UL] at 02:59 02 July 2013