Africa-Press – Angola. Volume II of the book “The Bantu in Mafrano’s vision”, a posthumous collection by the Angolan writer and ethnologist, Maurício Francisco Caetano, was presented this Saturday in the city of Huambo.
The book signing session, officially presented in 2023, with 471 pages, subdivided into 21 chapters, took place at the Huambo Provincial Library, with an audience made up of academics, traditional authorities and religious entities.
It is a book resulting from the collection, by the author’s family, of scattered texts, among others, in the Catholic newspaper “O Apostolado”, between 1957 and 1982, where the Angolan was a correspondent.
During the presentation of the book, historian Venceslau Casese said that the work is a complete vision of the “Bantu” African peoples, from their linguistic genesis to their cultural identity.
He added that the book narrates the characterization of Africans, regardless of their area of origin, who have the habit of sharing moments of joy and sadness, habits and customs, with the notion of preserving sacred values and life.
In brief statements, journalist José Caetano, one of Mafrano’s sons, said that the work is a collection of cultural anthropology texts from various regions of Angola, especially in the provinces of Bengo, Cabinda, Cuanza-Norte, Luanda and Malanje, in addition to some historical references from the Central Plateau.
He informed that volume III of the work could be presented this year, given the need to recognize Angolan culture, since the colonial era, with important aspects that were ignored at the time.
In turn, the head of the Cultural Action department of the province of Huambo, Pascal Pedro Nhanga, praised the author’s family for their initiative in publishing the work, which brings to light the coexistence of the common past of the Angolan and African people, in general.
He called on youth to read more about the work, as it demonstrates several examples of persistence and practices of African ancestors, for essential studies and research, with a focus on the development of Angolan socio-cultural wealth
It should be remembered that Volume I of the collection was made available in 2022, having been presented in Luanda, Huíla, Namibe, Cuanza-Norte and Cabinda and in countries such as Mozambique, Cape-Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe and Portugal.
Maurício Caetano, born on December 24, 1916, was a founding member of the Union of Angolan Writers (UEA) and stood out as a teacher of Portuguese and Philosophy in several educational establishments, including the Liceu Ngola Kiluanji, the Makarenko institute , PIO XII and Religious Sciences of Angola (IGRA).
According to older records, Maurício Caetano worked as a contributor to the Independent Newspaper «Angola Norte», in Malanje, where he published an article on «The ethnographic profile of the black Jinga», in 1947, which was dedicated that year to Lázaro Manuel Dias, his close friend and years later minister of justice in Angola and also a member of the «Process of 50».
The author was also a contributor to the magazine Angola, the African National League, the newspapers «Farolim» and correspondent for the newspaper «O apostolado», in Cabinda, Dembos and Cuanza-Norte, since 1954.
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