Description
Book SynopsisFrom Water to Wine explores how Angola has changed since the end of its civil war in 2002. Its focus is on the middle class—defined as those with a house, a car, and an education—and their consumption, aspirations, and hopes for their families. It takes as its starting point "what is working in Angola?" rather than "what is going wrong?" and makes a deliberate, political choice to give attention to beauty and happiness in everyday life in a country that has had an unusually troubled history.
Each chapter focuses on one of the five senses, with the introduction and conclusion provoking reflection on proprioception (or kinesthesia) and curiosity. Various media are employed—poetry, recipes, photos, comics, and other textual experiments—to engage readers and their senses. Written for a broad audience, this text is an excellent addition to the study of Africa, the lusophone world, international development, sensory ethnography, and ethnographic
Trade Review
"[I]t is refreshing to get insight into actors, stories, and institutions generally ignored by most scholars, who are more interested in the state, politics, corruption, and exclusion than in seeking out new narratives and framings of Angola. The result is an absorbing account of everyday life as [Auerbach] investigates how people prosper and find meaning under difficult conditions." -- Claudia Gastrow, University of Johannesburg * H-Luso-Africa *
Table of Contents
List of Images Acknowledgments Interview Report Preface Proprioception Introduction: Where Petrol Is Cheaper than Water: Life in Capitalismo selvagem The Back Story Representing “Africa”? On Making Sense in the Writing What the Book Is Actually About How the Research Was Done How to Read This Book Core Concepts Interlude: A Brief History of Angola Illustrated by Elinor Driver Smell 1. The Smell of Success: Perfume, Beauty, Sweat, Oil Read with Your Nose Conditioning the Air: Space and Control Class, Perfume, Dream: Aspiration and Authenticity Interlude: Recording Fieldwork Notes Objects Structured Observations of Space Touch 2. Touch and the Tactile: The Textures of Scouting in Capitalismo selvagem Seeing through the Skin Making the Mafia Stitching Pano Pants Catching Slipping Children Lighting the Fire as Service Building the New Man Choosing Appropriate T-Shirts Practicing Peace Interlude: Poems 1 Fatherhood Radio Building Seven Women Buying Cloth Fátima’s Mother, on Christmas Day 2013 The Cuban Help The Driver Taste 3. Changing Tastes: Palates and the Possible Recipes The Man Who Made Cake, Dona Maria, and the Sushi Chef Oral Histories: The Stories of Two Lives Interlude: Photo Essay 1: The Flavors of Peace Interlude: Photo Essay 2: Choices and Consumption Sound 4. Music, Fofoca, and the News: Sound, Space, and Orientation Sound Readings: Spectrographs, Annotation, Language Cold War Echoes: Higher Education, Ideology, and Contested Duties Interlude: Poems 2 Estrelinha (Little Star) Birds on Campus João, Collapsing Dona Maria Serving Soup Dona Inês Two Photographers Cinema Church Yoga Teacher Interlude: Photo Essay 3: Childhoods Interlude: Photo Essay 4: Leisure Sight 5. National Rebranding The Selfie and the Other National Rebranding: Guarantee Your Children a Better Past Biopolitical Screens: Frames of Vision Laughing on the Internet Insta Lies or Insta Truths? Fieldwork Ethics: Seven Afterimages Interlude: Photo Essay 5: Art Interlude: Photo Essay 6: Architecture Curiosity Conclusion: Attending the Beautiful in the Light of What We Know Capitalismo selvagem in Uncertain Times The Government Has Gone on Holiday, but Maybe João Lourenço Will Bring It Back Practicing Peace ... Again Notes Indicative Bibliography References Index
