Novel
Quem me dera ser onda
Not translated into English
Manuel Rui Monteiro · 1982
Synopsis
Luanda, in the years following independence. In an apartment building, a father brings home a piglet to feed the family; his sons Ruca and Zeca adopt it, name it Carnaval da Vitória, hide it from the neighbours and fatten it on the leftovers from a hotel. The animal, forbidden by the housing institute, upsets the tenants: gossip, insults, accusations of tribalism, regime slogans repeated wrongly; a timid inspector tries to enforce the rule, and the children outwit him.
Context
The story appeared in 1982 and went through many editions, including that of the Union of Angolan Writers in 1989. Michel Laban translated it into French under the title Le Porc épique, published in Paris by Dapper in 1999. Despite its irony toward the political discourse of the time, it received the Camarada Presidente Agostinho Neto prize. Critics read it alongside George Orwell's animal fable against totalitarianism, and see in it a carnivalesque parody of post-independence Angola.
Who it is for
A short novel in Portuguese, in an oral, familiar language, rich in slang and in expressions from Luanda; translated into French.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as a classic of Angolan literature and of Lusophone Africa, one of the best-known books by its author.
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