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Since 2019, I have been engaged in remote ethnography about the reconstruction of the beginning of the language and literacy policies developed by the Frelimo School in Bagamoyo (1970–1975), Tanzania. I entered the field based on previous ethnographic fieldwork in which the encounter between Mozambique's national languages and its official language, Portuguese, became one of the central issues to understand the reconstruction of national identity. I look at the origin of that reconstruction as legitimated through language(s). Paulo Freire, who contributed to the development of critical pedagogy, was a key actor in the literacy policies that were developed in post-independent Africa. However, in Mozambique, my research brought me to the other side of the (hi)story, to the (un)Freire (hi)story of Bagamoyo. During pandemic times, my ethnography was done at a distance, supported by a network of shared contacts that I developed during my long personal journey of research and experience in Mozambique. As I call it, this interconnected line of ethnographic inquiry, in which I was not physically present although I was "being then," was developed using the collective work methodology within a participatory approach as advocated in the Bagamoyo school in the 1970s. Desde 2019, tenho estado envolvida em uma etnografia à distância sobre a reconstrução do início das políticas linguísticas e de alfabetização desenvolvidas na Escola da Frelimo em Bagamoyo (1970–1975), Tanzânia. Parti para o terreno tendo como base um trabalho de campo etnográfico anterior, no qual o encontro entre as línguas nacionais de Moçambique e a sua língua oficial, o português, tornou-se uma das questões centrais para compreender a reconstrução da identidade nacional. Vejo a origem dessa reconstrução como legitimada através da(s) língua(s). Paulo Freire, que contribuiu para o desenvolvimento da pedagogia crítica, foi um ator-chave nas políticas de alfabetização propagadas na África pós-independência. Contudo, em Moçambique, minha pesquisa trouxe-me para outro lado da (hi)estória, para a (hi)estória (des)Freiriana de Bagamoyo. Em tempos de pandemia, minha etnografia foi feita à distância, apoiada por uma rede de contatos partilhados que desenvolvi durante meu longo percurso pessoal de pesquisa e vivência em Moçambique. Como denomino, esta linha de investigação etnográfica interconectada, na qual eu não estive fisicamente presente, embora "estivesse lá" [being then], foi elaborada utilizando a metodologia do trabalho coletivo inserida numa abordagem participativa, tal como foi praticado pela escola de Bagamoyo na década de 1970. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the use of languages as tool to recreate social and national identities over three generations in Mozambique from 1975 to modern times. It mentions that language has become a powerful marker of ethnicity and of national identity; and Portuguese is the official language of Mozambique, being a colonial legacy and a political choice made by the national movement fighting against Portuguese colonialism.

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