AESTHETIC RESPONSE OF THE ANGOLAN POET AGOSTINHO NETO

My interest in Agostinho Neto’s poetry began in 1982, when I taught a course entitled Literature and Revolution for the Portuguese program at Indiana University, Bloomington. The focus of study in this multi-disciplinary course was the poetry and novels of Angola and Mozambique, drawing students from the departments of Spanish and Portuguese, Comparative Literature and African Studies. In researching material for the course, I was inspired to write a series of essays on war songs and explore the more complex poetic themes and language in Agostinho Neto, the great leader of Angolan Independence and the nation’s first President (1975-1979). Many years of research yielded the support of the Dr. Antônio Agostinho Neto Foundation, which allowed me to delve into a specific aspect I had in mind since the1980s: the aesthetic response and reading of Agostinho Neto’s poetry by North-American scholars and my own reading of the role of poetical language as a tool for revolutionary consciousness. I hope my findings and readings will encourage contemporary scholars to continue exploring the revolutionary and lyrical content and language of Agostinho Neto’s work. I am well aware that these are neither the last, nor definitive, words on Neto’s poetic beauty and complexity.