The Lusophone World: The Evolution of Portuguese National Narratives

170 Pages·2017·2.018 MB·English

by  Sarah Ashby

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The
Lusophone
World
The Evolution of Portuguese National Narratives
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This new series will publish high-quality scholarly books on the entire spec-
trum of the Portuguese-speaking world, with particular emphasis on the
modern history, culture, and politics of Portugal, Brazil, and Africa. The
series, which will be open to a variety of approaches, will offer fresh insights
into a wide range of topics covering diverse historical and geographical
contexts. Particular preferences will be given to books that reflect interdisci-
plinarity and innovative methodologies. The editors encourage the
submission of proposals for single author as well as collective volumes.
The Lusophone World: The Evolution of Portuguese National Narratives
Sarah Ashby
Inequality in the Portuguese-Speaking World: Global and Historical
Perspectives
Edited by Francisco Bethencourt
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The
Lusophone
World
The Evolution of Portuguese National Narratives
SARAH ASHBY
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Copyright © Sarah Ashby, 2017.
The right of Sarah Ashby to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 978-1-78284-402-0 (PDF)
First published 2017, in Great Britain by
SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS
PO Box 139
Eastbourne BN24 9BP
and in the United States of America by
SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS
International Specialized Book Services
920 NE 58th Ave #300, Portland, OR 97213
and in Canada by
SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS (CANADA)
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes
of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ashby, Sarah (Sarah Hart)
Title: The Lusophone world : the evolution of Portuguese national narratives
/ Sarah Ashby.
Description: Brighton : Sussex Academic Press, 2017. | Series: The Portuguese-
speaking world: its history, politics and culture | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016045378 | ISBN 9781845198596 (hbk : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Portuguese-speaking countries—Foreign relations—Portugal. |
Portugal—Foreign relations—Portuguese-speaking countries | National
characteristics—Portuguese-speaking countries. | Group identity—Portuguese-
speaking countries. | Portugal—Colonies—History. | Globalization.
Classification: LCC DP534.5 .A83 2017 | DDC 327.4690171/2469—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016045378
Typeset & designed by Sussex Academic Press, Brighton & Eastbourne.
Printed by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall.
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Contents
Series Editors’ Preface vi
Author’s Preface and Acknowledgements viii
Introduction: After the Honeymoon 1
1 Life on the European Periphery 10
2 The Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries 29
3 Portugal, Europe, and the Lusophone World: 46
Points of Intersection
4 Portugal, Europe, and the Lusophone World: 62
Points of Diversion
5 Portuguese Discourses of Modernity 80
Conclusion: New Lusophone Horizons 102
Notes 120
Bibliography 138
Index 155
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Series Editors’ Preface
A small country in Western Europe, Portugal can boast its specificity in
terms of having the world’s oldest frontier - something that perhaps only
Japan may dispute. Yet, a long history of maritime expansion pushed its
borders beyond the confines of Europe – actually far beyond them, by
contributing to the opening oceanic routes that brought about the first
global age. Portugal was also the last European country to close its over-
seas doors, finally returning to its original geographical setting. However
six centuries of diasporic adventures have understandably left deep marks
in the country’s cultural mindset. So much so that, in the ever recurrent
national debate on identity, the overbearing presence of the past has
proven insurmountable. Portugal rejoined Europe by design and convic-
tion in 1986, but remains ambivalent about forever turning its back on a
former transatlantic empire.
The Portuguese intelligentsia has, for the last two centuries, delved into
the task of deciphering the implications of a nation’s long history tied to
its presence in all continents, a topic that to this day can still exacerbate
and excite the general public and the academics alike. Nowadays, uncom-
fortable feelings relative to our past colonialism complicate the existence
of a national consensus; some voices maintain that Portugal cannot
completely shut itself off from its former African colonies, whereas others
claim that it is time to once and for all close a door that should have never
been opened. This debate is intertwined – perhaps one should say entan-
gled – with another one regarding the level of Portuguese integration in
the European Union. In recent years, the deceleration of the European
project has only strengthened the opinion of those who believe that
Portugal’s identity is forever tied to its former overseas colonies. Although
defenders of that notion are well aware that their country can no longer
resume any pretension to an imperial status, they argue for a partnership
in which mutual economic, political and cultural exchanges can occur, to
the benefit of all involved.
Given such a context, it is only fitting, in our view, that the inaugural
volume in this new series of books on the Portuguese-speaking world
should carry in its title the term ‘Lusophone World’. Language is indeed
the key element Portugal has in common with its former colonies, even
though Portuguese has evolved differently in each one of those now inde-
pendent countries. The question to ask then is whether or not there are
any other ties that bind beyond a common language. Obviously, any study
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Series Editors’ Preface ⏐ vii
of the past cannot ignore the connections that still today tie the geograph-
ical and, in some ways, cultural spaces of the former empire; the possible
desirability and, above all, the viability of a new kind of connection
becomes central when the future of a by-gone empire is considered.
Sarah Ashby’s contribution is important in another respect. Because
this book series aims at informing the Anglophone world about the
Lusophone one, it is in fact fitting that the first book in this series has
emerged from a report written for an English-speaking audience. The goal
of this series is, in the mind of its editors, to bring to the English-speaking
readership an informed collection of books on a multiplicity of subjects,
whenever possible interdisciplinary, methodologically diverse, and varied
in their approaches, but in a learned and open fashion.
As editors, we have accepted the challenge Sussex Academic Press has
laid on our shoulders. We believe that, if the Lusophone World will thus
have the occasion to enjoy a wider exposure to English-speaking readers,
the latter will also benefit from this opportunity to read about an area of
the world that has been traditionally absent from sight in the discourse in
English, due in part to the language barriers that still divide Europe, not
to mention the globe, in spite of the present wave of Anglicization.
ANTÓNIOCOSTAPINTO(University of Lisbon)
ONÉSIMOT. ALMEIDA(Brown University)
MIGUELBANDEIRAJERÓNIMO(University of Coimbra)
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Author’s Preface and
Acknowledgements
This book was born of a past failure. In the summer of 2013, I was an
intern at the American Embassy in Lisbon. During the internship, I was
given the task of researching and writing a cable on the Community of
Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) and Portugal’s prospects as a
member of the organization. The cable was to be sent to the State
Department back in Washington D.C.
After a few weeks of research and interviews at the CPLP headquar-
ters in Lisbon, and many rounds of editing from political officers at the
Embassy, my cable was finally submitted for final clearance – and
promptly returned to me with a big red x scratched across the page. I was
subsequently summoned and told that I had failed in what was supposed
to be my principal mission: to elucidate the ways in which the CPLP was
going to be an unambiguous boon for Portugal.
I stewed and ruminated on this for a while, all the time my frustrations
growing. I kept thinking: It’s not that simple. The narrative just isn’t that
simple. There are a lot of factors at play here. This isn’t a straightforward
narrative about a burgeoning international institution with growing
coffers that is an uncontroversial advantage for Portugal. The situation is
a lot more complicated. There’s a lot going on here. There’s a lot of
history; a lot of geopolitics underlining this narrative.
I tried that whole summer to pen an appropriate cable to Washington
about Portugal’s current and future role in the CPLP, and finally realized
that it was an impossible task. Because I didn’t know enough yet.
I realized that, to truly understand the present, I had to dig deep into
the history of Lusophone relations. I also had to understand Portugal’s
past and present relationship with the European Union, and place that
narrative side-by-side with Portugal’s past and present relationship with
Lusophone nations. Only then could I begin to root out trends substan-
tial enough to dare to make predictions for the future.
And that, in a nutshell, is what this book is intended to do.
But first, a few words of acknowledgement and sincere gratitude:
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my dissertation
committee in Brown University’s Department of Portuguese and Brazilian
Studies. This book developed from a Ph.D. dissertation written in the
Department under the careful guidance of my dissertation advisor Dr.
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Author’s Preface and Acknowledgermigehntttst ⏐⏐ iixx
Leonor Simas-Almeida, aided by first reader Dr. Onésimo Almeida and
second reader Dr. Anani Dzidzienyo. This book would never have been
possible without the endless guidance, enthusiasm, knowledge, and
friendship of my committee as well as departmental professors and
colleagues.
Thanks to Dr. Onésimo Almeida, Dr. António Costa Pinto, and Dr.
Miguel Jerónimo for their laudable work in coordinating this series on the
Portuguese-speaking world. Future Lusophone scholars will benefit richly
from their efforts.
Additional thanks are due to Sussex Academic Press for their unfailing
professionalism and support in the publication of this book.
I am grateful to the Luso-American Development Foundation and to
the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for providing me with the
opportunity to mine the riches of the Portuguese diplomatic archives.
Finally, I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my family
for their love, unfailing encouragement, and support.