EUROCENTRIC CLAIMS ABOUT AFRICA, ITS PEOPLE AND THE CREATION OF THE NEW STATE: CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY IN GUINEA-BISSAU

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 national states is analyzed in the context of the new independence in Africa in the 1960s to 1980s, to understand the process of building an inclusive Guinean identity in contrast 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, opposing it to other identities produced historically and culturally in the territory. In order to develop its argument, the article is structured into 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 Guinea-Bissau's national identity. The choice of this theme is justified by the understanding that the construction of identities is part of launched historical processes. The partial results show how collective memories have been subordinated, but continue to claim their place in the construction of national identity.