Silenced violence in the feminine: a reading of Yara Monteiro’s Essa Dama Bate Bué!

Abstract

Based on the most recent research on women and violence during the colonial and civil war periods which defined post-independence Angola, I analyze Essa Dama Bate Bué!, a novel written by writer Yara Monteiro. My objective is to show, on the one hand, how the novel tells us that writing about personal matters means writing about politics. On the other hand, it is my intention to explore how the writer explores the issue of female violence by creating female characters who enact violence on other women, specifically their own children. Monteiro’s novel demonstrates the interconnectedness of violence, public and private, and its effect on social and psychic life. In sum, my goal is to highlight the silenced forms of familial violence within the broader context of colonial and civil conflicts in Angola and their repercussions in the country’s post-independence.