Commission of Tears

Resumen del libro

Antonio Lobo Antunes's twenty-fifth novel, Commission of Tears (2011, Comissao das Lagrimas) is set during the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002). Angola attained official independence on November 11, 1975 and, while the stage was set for transition, a combination of ethnic tensions and international pressures rendered Angola's hard-won victory problematic. As with many post-colonial states, Angola was left with both economic and social difficulties which translated into a power struggle between the three predominant liberation movements.

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), formed in December of 1956 as an offshoot of the Angolan Communist Party, had as its support base the Ambundu people and was largely supported by other African countries, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. In this novel, Lobo Antunes delves into this traumatic period of Angola's history through the fragmented memories and dreams of a broken woman. The author drew from the story of the commander of the female battalion MPLA (Popular movement for the liberation of Angola) who was tortured and killed following the state coup of May 1977.

It is said that while they tortured her she did not stop singing. This is the story of Cristina, admitted in to a psychiatric clinic in Lisbon. In her torrent of memories, dialogues and traumatic episodes, Cristina remembers her early childhood in Africa, at the time when everything inside her head was intertwined with her fathers voice, who was a former Black priest and became one of the torturers of the "Commission of Tears." Cristina's white mother, a cabaret dancer imported from Lisbon to entertain Portuguese farmers in Angola, marries the Black ex-priest because she finds herself pregnant with Cristina by her the man who exploits her, the cabaret manager.

The long, twisting narrative weaves together the three voices of daughter, father, and mother as they recall the terrors of their life in Angola, and their own suffering. Their personal tragedies, scarred by racism and abuse, mirror those of the country that is being torn asunder around them.

Biografía del autor

x{0026}lt;P x{0026}lt;B António Lobo Antunesx{0026}lt;/B nació en Lisboa en 1942. Tras estudiar la carrera de Medicina, sirvió en el ejército portugués durante la guerra de Angola. Su experiencia vital durante ese periodo marcó su destino y su posterior carrera. Tras su regreso a Lisboa, y después de abandonar la profesión de psiquiatra, Lobo Antunes se dedicó a desarrollar una carrera literaria de extraordinaria brillantez y ambición. Es considerado por muchos críticos como uno de los escritores vivos más importantes, además de ser uno de los más firmes candidatos a la obtención del Premio Nobel de Literatura. Su obra ha sido galardonada con el Premio Rosalía de Castro del PEN Club gallego, el Premio de Literatura Europea del Estado austríaco, el Jerusalén en 2004, el Cam es (el principal galardón en lengua portuguesa) en 2007, el FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances y la condecoración Comendador de la Orden de las Artes y las Letras Francesa en 2008 y el Premio Internacional Nonino en 2014.x{0026}lt;/P x{0026}lt;P Ensu vasta obra destacan títulos como x{0026}lt;I Buenas tardes a las cosas de aquí abajox{0026}lt;/I (2004), x{0026}lt;I Yo he de amar una piedrax{0026}lt;/I (2005), x{0026}lt;I Ayer no te vi en Babiloniax{0026}lt;/I (2007), x{0026}lt;I Mi nombre es Legiónx{0026}lt;/I (2009), x{0026}lt;I El archipiélago del insomniox{0026}lt;/I (2010), x{0026}lt;I ¿Qué caballos son aquellos que hacen sombre en el mar?x{0026}lt;/I (2012), x{0026}lt;I Tercer libro de crónicasx{0026}lt;/I (2013), x{0026}lt;I Sobre los ríos que vanx{0026}lt;/I (2014), x{0026}lt;I Comisión de las lágrimasx{0026}lt;/I (2015), x{0026}lt;I No es media noche quien quierex{0026}lt;/I (2017) y x{0026}lt;I De la naturaleza de los diosesx{0026}lt;/I (2019), x{0026}lt;I Para aquella que está sentada en la oscuridad x{0026}lt;/I (2021) y x{0026}lt;I Memoria de elefante x{0026}lt;/I (2022), todos ellos publicados en Literatura Random House.x{0026}lt;/P