The Portuguese-Speaking Diaspora: Seven Centuries of Literature and Arts by Darlene J. Sadlier (review)

In The Portuguese-Speaking Diaspora: Seven Centuries of Literature and Arts, Darlene J. Sadlier makes a concerted effort to cover seven centuries and several continents of literary and artistic works from the Lusophone diaspora. This richly documented study provides an account of topics ranging from the Portuguese imperial project, the diaspora, race in Africa, Casa dos Estudantes do Império, Lusotropicalism, and Africa in the global economy.

Sadlier compares and contrasts different perspectives on the imperial enterprise. Through a close analysis of a wide range of literary texts, archival documents and the works of local artisans, she discusses the impact of the Portuguese presence in Africa. Taking as a point of departure Os Lusíadas, an epic poem written by Luis Camões, Sadlier shows how the praised images of discovery of new lands, peoples and riches were increasingly conflated with the images of corruption, failure, moral decline, and loss. In addressing iconic images produced by artists in Africa, the chapter points to the ways the expanding empire produced a hybrid culture that drew inspiration from Portugal and its colonies.

Sadlier next explores varied perspectives on slavery in nineteenth-century Brazil. From Antonio Vieira’s inconsistent and contradictory attitude towards slavery to the hybrid culture of Caldas Barbosa’s music, Sadlier critically revisits key authors such as Cruz e Souza, Luis Gama, Gonçalves de Magalhães, Machado de Assis and Gilberto Freyre. She is able to compare and contrast the most diverse views on slavery, unveiling a far more ambivalent facet of Brazilian society. The critical examination of competing discourses is also central to her study on the fascination for the Orient in Portuguese literature. Sadlier elaborates on the literary works of Eça de Queirós and Camilo Pessanha in order to demonstrate how the two authors dismissed the perception of the Far East as a yellow peril to Western civilization, while also praising them for their sensibility, talent, and dedication.

The coexistence of competing images is also central to the discussion on scientific-geographic Portuguese expeditions in Southern Africa and the works of Eça de Queirós and José Eduardo Agualusa. As Sadlier notes, scientific expeditions in Africa gained a new impulse after the increasing interest of other European nations in claiming a territory in Africa and the Brazilian independence from Portugal in 1822. The government-supported scientific explorations produced maps and drawings of peoples, lands, and wildlife. They not only reported to the presence of Portuguese customs and habits into African interior but also, as in the case of Brito Campelo, urged the government to carry out its civilizing mission. After providing an overview of the literature produced by nineteenth-century Portuguese explorers, Sadlier introduces the work of José Eduardo Agualusa who establishes an intertextual dialogue with A correspondência de Fradique Mendes, one of the last works of Eça de Queirós. In Queirós’s novel, the Fradique Mendes fictional adventurer offers a sharp criticism on Portugal’s upper middle class. In Nação Crioula, Agualusa adopts the guise of Fradique Mendes to establish the “centrality of African colonies to the foundation and consolidation of the Portuguese empire” (Sadlier 132). Chapter 5 investigates more specifically the African presence in Portugal or, more precisely, the foundation of the Casa do Estudante do Império and its monthly journal Mensagem. Created to socialize African students into imperial colonial leaders, the Casa became a privileged space where key figures from Angola, Mozambique and other African colonies met and shared their ideas for an independent future. Sadlier’s thorough study of Mensagem enables us to better understand the contradictions within the group and the reason why it was censored by the Portuguese government.

The sixth chapter revolves around Gilberto Freyre’s notion of Lusotropicalism, which was consolidated after his tours of the Portuguese colonies sponsored by the Salazar regime. As discussed by different scholars, Freyre’s emphasis on miscegenation and fraternity was adopted with some...