Despite high degrees of cultural and ethnic diversity as well as prevailing political instability, Guinea-Bissau’s population has developed a strong sense of national belonging. By examining both contemporary and historical perspectives, A Creole Nation explores how creole identity, culture, and political leaders have influenced postcolonial nation-building processes in Guinea-Bissau, and the ways in which the phenomenon of cultural creolization results in the emergence of new identities.

Christoph Kohl is Research Fellow at the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Brunswick, Germany. He was Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Germany, from 2012 to 2016. He was a doctoral fellow (2005–2010) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Saale), and received his PhD from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in 2010.

“The author should be commended for his skillful synthesis and intricate analysis of extensive field data and written sources on this under-researched corner of the African continent. It has resulted in a key contribution to the debate on cultural creolization and its political entanglements, and I recommend A Creole Nation for scholars and students working on (political) anthropology and (West) African studies.” • JRAI

“One of the author’s great achievements is the skillful manner in which he synthesizes a myriad of data gleaned from oral and written sources in the longue durée and weaves them into a well-crafted and colorful tapestry of interlocking narratives on an African society in constant flux…All in all, this book is a must for academics working on cultural creolization, as well as for those specializing in the political anthropology of nationhood in sub-Saharan Africa.” • Philip J. Havik, Universidade NOVA of Lisbon in African Studies Review

“Clear and well-written, this book represents a significant contribution to the literature on nations and nationalism in Africa.” • Eric Gable, University of Mary Washington