This essay applies the concept of crises of fraternity to the human conflicts that accompanied the post-colonial moment in Mozambique, drawing its inspiration from Emmanuel Lévinas' philosophical concept of "fraternity". The paper analyses literary materials: two recent novels dealing with the emotional reactions to the Civil War of the 1980's; and memorialist records produced around the perplexing story of a white woman who opted for Mozambican citizenship in the post-Independence period. The notion of "autochtony" is explored by reference to the process of ethnic diversification in the post-colonial moment. The article argues for a complexification of the anthropological notion of "alterity" and rejects the reductionist views of the history of our discipline that have recently become widespread.
autochtony; fraternity; Mozambique; post-colonial