A narrative structure for denouncing forced labor

African stories of violence and resistance

Abstract

Based on the reading of a set of twenty-six Angolan and Mozambican stories that discusses the labor relations of the colonial context, I present in this article a synthesis of what I call the narrative structure of denouncing forced labor in Portuguese-language African literature. Produced in the 1950s / 60s, the analyzed texts use narrative strategies - in terms of enunciation, plot organization, characterization of characters, spatiality, temporality, thematic, among other elements - which, in congruence, reveal the exploration and resistance of African workers in the countryside and in the city, notably as part of the participating literary commitment and the struggle against colonial, capitalist and racist violence.