Práticas da História No. 8
Sep 23, 2019 | 2019, Editions, Práticas da História
Práticas da História – Journal on Theory, Historiography and Uses of the Past
- 2019
- Issue 8
- ISSN: 2183-590X
- Thematic dossier: Celebrations of the “Portuguese Discoveries” — Edited by Elisa Lopes da Silva and José Miguel Ferreira
Editorial note:
As early as 2016, shortly after publishing the first issue of this journal, we thought of making a dossier about the commemorative cycle of the “Portuguese discoveries” that took place in the late twentieth century. Many of us, historians today, had been educated during this long commemorative cycle: school materials and academic research, television programs and artistic productions, and even the city of Lisbon itself, were forms of commemoration largely sponsored by the Portuguese state, notably through of the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Portuguese Discoveries (in office from 1986 to 2002).
In early 2018, twenty years after the Expo ‘98 held in the Portuguese capital, we decided to organize a dossier in which we could critically review the policies to commemorate the so-called “Portuguese discoveries”, and thus begin to understand which stories had been told. We wanted to understand the various commemorative discourses, as well as the counter-discourses and controversies. Above all, we were interested in understanding how the historical events targeted by the commemorative initiatives – from Vasco da Gama’s sea voyage to India to the arrival of Pêro Alvares Cabral’s fleet in Brazil – as well as the Portuguese celebrations themselves had been interpreted in other national contexts, particularly in countries that had been part of the Portuguese empire. We would thus displace the historiographical discussion from the former metropole.
As a way of organizing the dossier, we launched in the spring 2018 a call for papers for the seminar “Discoveries” Politics, Memory, Historiography. At that time, there was a controversy about a hypothetical «Museum of Discoveries» that brought to the public debate the historiographical reflection on that period, starting with the very way to name it. The main narrative of Portugal’s history and the place of the history of the Portuguese maritime expansion in it have become the object of lively public discussion and we hope that this venture of ours can somehow contribute to this debate, both public and historiographic in its troubled relations. First, this will somehow dispel the misconception that once history is written it is forever set in stone, stressing instead that history is constantly being reconceived with the eyes of a present of which commemorative projects are the most visible expression. It will thus help us escape the naturalization of a type of history that, once told, is always ready to be celebrated. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, by shifting the center of the commemorations of the “discoveries” from the Portuguese metropole and the narrative of national history, this dossier allows us to consider and denaturalize who is the “we” who commemorates the history of Portugal today, when the inheritance of an imperial country is reflected in its population; who is the “we” that celebrates, when we think also of the descendants of the populations of the American, African and Asian regions affected by the Portuguese expansion.
The papers that we received allowed us to broaden the chronological scope of our proposal and to insert the commemorations of the “Portuguese discoveries” at the end of the twentieth century into a long-term historiographical category which, in this case, dates back to 1898.
The dossier opens with an article by Marcos Cardão addressing the television program “A grande adventura” [The great adventure], starring public historian José Hermano Saraiva, in order to study the mediatization of the topic of “Portuguese discoveries” in democratic and postcolonial Portugal. Through his analysis, Cardão shows how a realistic rhetoric, supported by formal audiovisual devices, construct-ed linear narratives centered on the achievements of great men that crystallized historical memory and thus helped to naturalize imperial benevolence. The problematization of the visual representation of the “Discoveries” continues in the following text, focusing on how visuality has also conveyed disputes and alterities of that historiographic category. Iara Schiavinatto, displacing the gaze from the colonial metropole, approaches the theme of slavery in the formation of the Afro-Brazilian art category, in a cycle of exhibitions that took place between 1990 and 2000, in Portugal and Brazil. This cycle made it possible to inscribe slavery in a politics of memory and, according to the author, to visually refute the narratives of luso-tropicalism and racial democracy.
The dossier also has two texts that take the commemoration of the “discoveries” to other geographies and temporalities. Stefan Halikowski-Smith and Benjamin Jennings allow us to look at how the “Portuguese discoveries” were celebrated internationally at a time when Portuguese decolonization was under debate in this arena. This third text of our dossier analyzes, through military, diplomatic and academic initiatives, in particular a 1960 exhibition at the British Museum on the 5th Centenary of the death of Prince Henry, how the commemorations of “Portuguese discoveries” promoted forms of cultural diplomacy and Anglo-Portuguese academic exchanges in a context of progressive deterioration of the relationship between Portugal and the United Kingdom. Going further back, to the time of the celebrations of the fourth centenary of Vasco da Gama’s voyage, the last article of the dossier, written by Jaime Rodrigues, focuses on a 1898 text of maritime history to draw conclusions about the figure of the sailor in Portuguese historical culture.
Outside the dossier, but seeking to contextualize the commemorations of the “Portuguese discoveries”, we also publish an article that returns to the empire’s capital to think about the colonial memory produced by the Portuguese state. Nuno Domingos analyzes how Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, considered the greatest African football player, born in Mozambique and celebrated in Portugal, became a national hero in the latter country and, after his death in 2014, experienced a process of patrimonialization that led his body to the National Pantheon in Lisbon.
In order to multiply the historiographical narratives that destabilize the assumptions that ushered and supported the commemoration of the “Portuguese discoveries”, we also publish an interview conducted by Barbara Direito and Elisa Lopes da Silva to a pioneer of African history in Portugal, Isabel Castro Henriques. Following her long career, we talked about the disagreements and struggles during the institutionalization of the History of Africa discipline in an academy still dominated by the history of discoveries and expansion. Finally, we publish a brief essay by Diogo Ramada Curto, in which he situates and defines the weight of the theme of slavery in the part of the work of historian Vitorino Magalhães Godinho concerning the expansion and construction of the colonial empire, finding complex and integrative approaches to the “Portuguese discoveries”.
The final words of this editorial were reserved to briefly honor the recently deceased António Manuel Hespanha. Member of the Scientific Board of our journal, an intellectual reference for all of us, Hespanha was the historian chosen to present the first issue of Práticas da História. The testimony we publish results from the text he sent to our journal on the occasion of his participation in the seminar that gave rise to this issue. His testimony as Commissioner of the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Portuguese Discoveries (1997-2000) offers us not only a review of that commemorative cycle, but also an opportunity to pave the way for a debate on the possibility of holding celebrations based on a critical history that questions the foundations of its doing. In his words:
“By devoting himself to describing the multiple forms of “pulverization” of Truth, Morality, Consciousness, Man, the historian is describing himself and his discourse as wounded by the same splintering and thereby refusing any scientism or essentialism and automatically questioning whatever he writes. Furthermore, by exposing such a shattering, he opens the door to new alternatives for social, political and cultural organization”.
Elisa Lopes da Silva and José Ferreira (ICS — University of Lisbon)
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Detalhes do Evento
Congress which is an opportunity to take stock of the situation and discuss, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the future of studies on the Portuguese Revolution. Deadline: 10 September Congresso
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Detalhes do Evento
Congress which is an opportunity to take stock of the situation and discuss, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the future of studies on the Portuguese Revolution. Deadline: 10 September
Congresso internacional 50 anos do 25 de Abril
Cinquenta anos depois, o 25 de Abril e o processo revolucionário de 1974-75 continuam a ser objecto de discussão em várias disciplinas das ciências sociais e das humanidades. Sobretudo nas últimas décadas, os debates em torno da Revolução procuraram ir para além dos estudos pioneiros sobre o processo político e militar, através de múltiplas abordagens que ajudam a compreendê-lo em toda a sua complexidade: as transformações sociais e a participação política de base; os contextos internacionais, nomeadamente no que diz respeito aos processos de luta anti-colonial e à Guerra Fria; as dinâmicas políticas e sociais na sua diversidade regional; a economia política da Revolução; os repertórios de luta e as linguagens escritas, visuais e musicais; o papel da Revolução e da sua memória na história global e na sociedade portuguesa democrática; os processos de patrimonialização, musealização e preservação das memórias; as análises comparativas com outras revoluções e transições para sistemas democráticos.
Palestrantes:
Enzo Traverso (Cornell University)
Donatella della Porta (Scuola Normale Superiore, Firenze)
>> Programa do congresso (PDF) <<
Chamada para comunicações
A ocasião do cinquentenário surge assim como uma oportunidade para fazer um ponto da situação e discutir, a partir de uma perspectiva interdisciplinar, o futuro dos estudos sobre a Revolução. Neste sentido, o Congresso Internacional 50 anos do 25 de Abril apela à participação de investigadores/as de áreas tão distintas como a sociologia, a história, a economia, a ciência política, as relações internacionais, a antropologia, a história de arte e os estudos artísticos e literários. Privilegiam-se abordagens inovadoras nos âmbitos temáticos acima referidos que contribuam para reforçar o conhecimento deste momento fundador da nossa contemporaneidade.
Plano Temático:
Secção I | O derrube da ditadura: A secção I compreende os estudos sobre o Marcelismo e a crise final do regime nas suas dimensões nacional e internacional, incluindo as dinâmicas sociais e políticas geradas em torno Guerra Colonial.
Secção II | A revolução política: A secção II é dedicada à dissolução do aparelho de repressão política, judicial e censório e a responsabilização política, criminal e administrativa dos seus agentes (dissoluções, prisões, saneamentos, interdições, julgamentos), ao processo político revolucionário (as suas diferentes fases entre o 25 de Abril e a aprovação da Constituição de 1976), à Assembleia Constituinte, aos Pactos MFA/Partidos e à Constituição de Abril de 1976, aos partidos políticos e à conquista das liberdades públicas, do sufrágio universal e do direito à greve.
Secção III | A revolução económica e social: A secção III inclui investigação sobre as lutas dos trabalhadores e os órgãos de vontade popular, as lutas dos moradores e a questão da habitação, a reforma agrária e as novas políticas agrárias, as nacionalizações e as estratégias de desenvolvimento económico, as lutas feministas e as organizações das mulheres, as lutas pela diversidade sexual e de género e os seus movimentos, as lutas anti-racistas e os seus movimentos, a população racializada, o ensino e o movimento estudantil.
Secção IV | A revolução cultural: A secção IV versa sobre a cultura no PREC, incluindo a imprensa, o audiovisual (rádio e televisão), a música, o cinema, o teatro, a literatura, a pintura e os murais, o cartaz.
Secção V | A queda do império colonial: A secção V é dedicada à descolonização. Reúne apresentações sobre a situação da Guerra Colonial e as guerras de libertação em 1974, a questão colonial e o poder político e militar em Portugal no processo revolucionário, os movimentos de libertação nacional e o processo de descolonização, os efeitos da descolonização na sociedade portuguesa, a chegada a Portugal de populações das antigas colónias, a situação dos militares africanos integrados nas forças militares portuguesas, o racismo estrutural da sociedade portuguesa.
Secção VI | Processo revolucionário e relações internacionais (1974-1976): A secção VI trata da conjuntura internacional e da política externa dos governos provisórios, das ligações internacionais entre forças políticas e o poder militar, dos apoios internacionais e da intervenção externa no processo revolucionário.
Secção VII | A revolução portuguesa e os processos de transição para a democracia: A secção VII introduz a dimensão comparativa no estudo da Revolução portuguesa. Aborda a temática a partir de reflexões em torno das Revoluções, dos processos de democratização, das convergências e divergências das transições para a democracia.
Secção VIII | As representações da memória política do 25 de Abril: Nesta secção agrupam-se as pesquisas dedicadas aos processos de memorialização do passado e as suas mutações ao longo do tempo, às políticas publicas de memória e às políticas do esquecimento, aos debates das interpretações sobre história e memória em suas múltiplas dimensões e ao comemorativismo.
Submissão de propostas 🔗 neste link.
Datas: 2, 3 e 4 de Maio de 2024
Local: Reitoria da Universidade de Lisboa
Os interessados/as devem submeter a sua proposta através do formulário até dia 10 de Setembro de 2023.
Comissão Organizadora
Maria Inácia Rezola, Comissão Comemorativa 50 Anos 25 de Abril / IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Fernando Rosas, IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
José Neves, IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Miguel Cardina, CES – Universidade de Coimbra
Rita Almeida de Carvalho, ICS – Universidade de Lisboa
José Lopes Cordeiro, Universidade do Minho
Comissão Científica
Álvaro Garrido, CEIS20 – Universidade de Coimbra
António Costa Pinto, ICS – Universidade de Lisboa
Fernando Rosas, IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
José Lopes Cordeiro, Universidade do Minho
José Neves, IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Luís Trindade, CEIS20 – Universidade de Coimbra
Luísa Tiago de Oliveira, CIES – ISCTE
Manuel Loff, Universidade do Porto, IHC – NOVA FCSH
Maria da Conceição Meireles Pereira, CITCEM
Maria Fernanda Rolo, Pólo do CEF na NOVA FCSH
Maria Inácia Rezola, Comissão Comemorativa 50 Anos 25 de Abril / IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Miguel Cardina, CES – Universidade de Coimbra
Rui Bebiano, Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril – Universidade de Coimbra
Sérgio Campo Matos, CHUL – FLUL
Sílvia Roque, CES – Universidade de Coimbra e Universidade de Évora
Sónia Vespeira de Almeida, CRIA – NOVA FCSH
Rita Rato, Museu do Aljube
Luísa Teotónio Pereira, CIDAC • CULTRA, Cooperativa Culturas do Trabalho e Socialismo
Tempo
maio 2 (Quinta-feira) - 4 (Sábado)
Organizador
Several institutions
News
Victor Pereira contributes to exhibition at the French Embassy
Apr 26, 2024
Victor Pereira was one of the curators of the exhibition “Regards français sur la Révolution des œillets”
Oral history, decolonisation and revolution: three new IHC projects on 25 April revolution
Apr 21, 2024
Luís Trindade, Zélia Pereira and José Neves had three new projects funded by the FCT
PREC posters at the National Library of Portugal
Apr 19, 2024
Paulo Catrica is the curator of the exhibition “A Revolução em Marcha”.