““Desertified Land of Barbarian Men and Without Civilization”: Eurocentric Claims about Africa and the Construction of Identity in Guinea-Bissau (Atena Editora)

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the role of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (hereinafter PAIGC) in the process of building the Guinean nation-state. To this end, the conception of nation-states in the context of the new independence movements in Africa from the 1960s to the 1980s is analyzed, in order to understand the process of building an inclusive Guinean identity as opposed to the exclusionary identity proposed by the PAIGC. The central argument is that the influences of the Pan-Africanist movements, which the party received, led to the construction, contrasting it with other identities produced historically and culturally in the territory. In order to develop its argument, the article is structured in two sections. The first section will counter-criticize Eurocentric claims about the African continent, highlighting its influences on modernity. The second section will highlight how the birth of the nation-state by the African party PAIGC influenced the construction of the national identity of Guinea-Bissau. The choice of this theme is justified by the understanding that the construction of identities is part of historical processes that have been launched. The partial results show how collective memories have been subordinated, but continue to claim their place in the construction of national identity.