Introduction

This book tells the history of the changing gendered landscapes of northern Mozambique from the perspective of women who fought in the armed struggle for national independence. The introductory chapter presents the theoretical motivation and the feminist life history research methodology that underpins this study and situates the women’s life narratives in the moving and changing historical landscapes of northern Niassa. Bringing feminist scholarship on nationalism and spatial theorizing into the conversation, the chapter explores what new insight a conceptual focus on space (or rather space-time) can bring to a feminist analysis of nationalism and, more specifically, the particular historical formation and spatiotemporal relationship between Frelimo nationalism and female ex-combatants in northern Mozambique. The chapter argues that by focusing on the body, senses, and landscape, this study can divert from the often-told narrative of women in nationalist wars that emphasizes a linear plot of liberation. By studying the women ex-combatants’ lived landscapes, it will show the women’s life trajectories unfold as nonlinear spatial histories.