Ovimbundu Identity Attributions in Post-War Angola* Vasco Martins (ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon) This article explores the attribution of political identity to the Ovimbundu ethnic group of Angola during the post-war period. It examines specific historical periods and political debates to reveal negative stereotypes popularly used to associate this ethnic group with the Unia ˜o Nacional para a Independe ˆncia Total de Angola (UNITA), a practice still present today. Academic scholarship concerning the ethnic debate about Angola is still embryonic. This paper negotiates a new approach by looking at ethnic stereotypes as enduring means of attributing political identity to a specific ethnic group, while taking into account the views of those targeted by such identity attributions. Having explored how UNITA mobilised the Ovimbundu for political gains, the paper uses interview data collected in the central highlands to demonstrate not only the attribution of stereotypes but also the Ovimbundu’s own perception of themselves as a ‘marginal other’. It is in the group’s interaction with wider Angolan society that such stereotypes are summoned and shaped in the pejorative epithets ‘bailundo’, ‘kwacha’ and ‘sulano’. The article concludes that decades of ethnic manipulation provided various identity connotations, based on ethno-regional and socio-political criteria. These were often contrary to actual Ovimbundu outlooks, but still served as limiting factors to their social, political and economic integration. Thus the Ovimbundu’s own perception of their marginalisation has been reinforced. Introduction On 16 August 2011, during a debate at the National Assembly of the Republic of Angola concerning the electoral package for the 2012 national elections, the Unia ˜o Nacional para a Independe ˆncia Total de Angola (UNITA) parliamentary group declared ‘in the name of the sovereign people of Angola, that we cannot and will not participate in this fraud to the constitution of the Republic of Angola’ and proceeded to leave the national assembly. In response, a group of Movimento Popular de Libertac  a ˜o de Angola (MPLA) deputies called them ‘sulanos’ and ‘tribalistas’ (tribalists) and shouted, ‘do not speak in the name of the southern people [ povo sulano ] whom you killed’. Many sectors of Angolan society condemned the episode, which appeared to be a misunderstanding. According to the MPLA representative, UNITA’s speaker did not properly express the word ‘soberano’ (sovereign), which was understood by some in the MPLA side as ‘sulano’ (southern). 1 It seems that the ethnic stereotyping that associated UNITA with the people of the south, particularly the q 2015 The Editorial Board of the Journal of Southern African Studies *Vasco Martins is a PhD candidate in African Studies at ISCTE–IUL, Lisbon. The author gratefully acknowledges the support of grants from Fundac  a ˜o para a Cie ˆncia e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/75835/2011) that made this research possible, as well as field assistance from the ADRA–Huambo and Development Workshop in Angola, and many individuals who reviewed this manuscript. 1 ‘Deputados do MPLA chamam UNITA de “sulanos”’, ClubK.net, 16 August 2011, available at http://www.club- k.net/index.php?option¼ com_content&view ¼ article&id ¼ 8502:deputados-do-mpla-chamam-unita-de- sulanos&catid ¼ 8:bastidores&Itemid ¼ 125, retrieved 13 April 2015. Journal of Southern African Studies, 2015 Vol. 41, No. 4, 1–15, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2015.1052625 Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UL] at 03:43 18 January 2016