The Social and Economic Background of Portuguese Negro Poetry

Extract

If we are to understand the contradictory character of negro poetry in the Portuguese language, we have to be acquainted with the social conditions under which it was written. We are thus led to examine the origin of the creole societies of Cape Verde, Saint Thomas and Prince Island on the one hand, and of the negro societies of Angola and Mozambique on the other, whose evolution was entirely different. On Cape Verde, we can still find a system of agriculture based on small properties. On Saint Thomas and Prince Island, agriculture still predominates, but is based on large properties and shows many features of the capitalistic system. In Angola and Mozambique on the other hand, we encounter many different social and economic forms, ranging from tribal organization to urban concentration and agricultural exploitation of the capitalistic type.