Short stories
Luuanda: Short Stories of Angola
Luuanda
José Luandino Vieira · 1964
Synopsis
Three stories from the musseques of Luanda in colonial times. Zeca Santos, dismissed from his job as a petrol pump attendant and whose father is in prison, looks for work and something to eat, while his grandmother Xíxi brings back rotten oranges; he loves Delfina, who is courted by a richer rival. In prison, Lomelino dos Reis, caught with stolen ducks, accuses the young Garrido, a lame boy in love with Inácia, under the calming gaze of Xico Futa. Finally, nga Zefa's hen Cabiri lays an egg in the yard of her neighbour Bina, and the two women quarrel over it.
Context
Written in 1963 in a prison in Luanda, the collection appeared in 1964 and received the Mota Veiga prize, in Luanda, the same year. In 1965, the Portuguese Society of Writers awarded it its grand prize for the short story; Salazar's regime then closed the Society, and the book remained banned until 1974. Its epigraph in Kimbundu was translated only after the first five editions. Tamara L. Bender translated it into English for Heinemann in 1980; only one of the stories exists in French.
Who it is for
Three stories in Portuguese, shot through with Kimbundu words and turns of phrase that the text does not translate; a glossary accompanies recent editions.
Prizes and reception
Its author's best-known work, regarded as a masterpiece that opened new paths for Angolan literature.
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