Pepetela, Untimely Writer

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to carry out an analysis of the question of contemporaneity in the work of the Angolan author Pepetela (Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos), based on the theoretical basis of "Contemporary as untimely" elaborated by the philosopher Giorgio Agamben. In a complex context like that of Angola in formation, in a reality immersed in the problems of a multi-ethnic nation and with a marked colonial past, the struggle for the conquest of a common identity and individual freedom constitute one of the main concerns, together with the complex relationships with what remains of the colonizer's culture. Starting from the re-appropriation of the connections with nature and with the roots of a multiethnic people with particular dedication to the novel Mayombe, analysing the role of the word and of literature as a weapon of rupture and suture, of acceptance of the "perhaps", it will be possible to highlight the duality of the author's literary and social conception. In this regard, in one of the concluding paragraphs of this chapter, a dialogue with Camões' The Lusiads and Gonçalo M. Tavares' Journey to India will be established, in order to highlight the value of the synthesis of contrasts and differences thanks to the power of the confrontation between human beings in Pepetela's work.