This article presents a reflection on the process of resignification of identities and nationalities from the results of Ellery Mourão's research (2006) done with students from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, graduated in Brazilian universities. It focuses on the construction of identities in those countries from the conceptions of the subjects interviewed. Different identitys construction processes were found: a cultural (ethnic) one in Caper Verde and a national one in Guinea Bissau. Such a difference allowed the adoption of different strategies in the insertion on the nation-State democratic model. The article is about Guinean and Cape-verdian identities and their specific nationality construction processes, focusing on the importance of studying in Brazil for students to resignify their national identities. The intention is to deconstruct current ideas about the African continent as a whole, as well as the notions of nation and nationality imposed by the Western world, considering the political and economical intentions underlying these ideas.
identities; nationalities; higher education