Loja (architecture)

Grocery-bar in Cape Verde

A loja in Tarrafal Musicians at a loja in Fogo

A loja is a kind of a grocery-bar or a characteristic boutique in Cape Verde, which makes up a subdivision of a Creole lifestyle.[1]

The work of lojas, are found in both the town and the countryside. The boss stands right behind the bar counter where groceries and consumer goods are placed on shelves. Clients stay on the other side for a drink (men) or shop (women and children).[1]

During the colonial era, lojas were founded throughout the Portuguese colonial empire in Africa.[2] Notable goods included petroleum lamps, preserves, plastic sandals, matches, oils, fabrics, sugar, salt and pasta. These retail businesses were generally held by the mixed (mestiços) people who accepted the intermediate social level - albeit modest - enabled them to assert a form of a superiority over the indigenous people.

In an article by Henrique Teixeira de Sousa, it analyzed the social structure of Fogo, his native islands, both in his novels[3] and in his essays,[4] showed the concern of white families with the rise of the mixed in the late 1940s, they feared the moment that "the blacks would be pushed into the funco ; [where] it would take the place of the mixed with the loja and the latter would put the Whites to the sobrado.[5]

## See also

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* Funco (architecture)
* Sobrado (architecture)

## References

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1. ^ a b Nicolas Quint, "Civilisation : Les épiceries-bars et le grogue" (Civilization: Grocery-Bar and Grogue), Parlons capverdien : langue et culture (Cape Verdean Terms: Language and Culture), L'Harmattan, 2003, p. 116-117 ISBN 9782296310896
2. ^ Jean Ziegler, Les rebelles : contre l'ordre du monde : mouvements armés de libération nationale du Tiers monde [Rebels: Against the World Order: Armed Movemens for National Liberation of the Third World], Seuil, Paris, 1983, p. 196 ISBN 2-02-006413-8
3. ^ The Island of Contenda by Henrique Teixeira de Sousa
4. ^ "A estrutura social da Ilha do Fogo" ("Social Structure on the Island of Fogo"), Claridade, no. 5, 1957, "Sobrados, lojas e funcos ", Claridade, no. 8, 1958
5. ^ Nelson Eurico Cabral, Le moulin et le pilon, les îles du Cap-Vert (The Mill and the Pestle, the Cape Verde Islands), Harmattan, Paris, ACCT, 1980, p. 145 ISBN 2-85802-161-9 (in French)

## Further reading

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* Nicolas Quint, "Civilisation : Les épiceries-bars et le grogue" ('"Civilization: Grocery-Bar and Grogue"), Parlons capverdien : langue et culture (Cape Verdean Terms: Language and Culture), L'Harmattan, 2003, p. 116-117 ISBN 9782296310896
* Henrique Teixeira de Sousa, "Sobrados, lojas e funcos", Claridade, Mindelo, no. 8, 1958, p. 2-8