The wind of insubordination blows in the already crumbling traditions

love ballad to the wind, Paulina Chiziane

Abstract

The Mozambican writer Mia Couto, perhaps one of the most representative contemporary novelists of Lusophone Africa, alongside others like Germano Almeida (Cape Verde) and Pepetela (Angola), is recognized by critics because of the inventive talent expressed in his writings, which goes from the lexical level, with the creation of neologisms inspired by the popular uses of the Portuguese, to the fablulization of universes that border on magical realism, as in the novel “The last flight of the flamingo” (2000). It should be emphasized, however, that it is not only the poetic appeal of the writings of Mia Couto that catch the attention of his readers and critics worldwide. Behind the numerous metaphors and neologisms, there is a deep sense of political intervention that marks the work of the Mozambican writer. This sense of political commitment to the historical processes of consolidation of Mozambican society becomes even more salient when one begins to work with the literature of female authorship. Celebrated by literary circles as the first Mozambican woman to publish a novel, Paulina Chiziane gained breadth, alongside names such as Lilia Momplé, as one of the most prominent novelists of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century with a work of great impact not only in Mozambique, but in all Lusophone Africa. Among her novels, it is worth noting Love Ballad in the wind (1990), Winds of Apocalypse (1993), The Seventh Oath (2000), Niketche: a story of polygamy (2002) and The Jolly Song of the Partridge (2008). Love Ballad in the Wind, first published in 1990 by the Association of Mozambican Writers (AEMO), brings up the conflicting clash of certain indigenous tribal values with the westernized social guidelines. This clash ends up redimensioning the configuration of the organization of the Mozambican family, especially with regards to social roles played by women, both in public and in private. In this turbulent vortex, those who suffer most are women, prevented from having viable identities, and even of participating effectively in public life as full citizens.