Becoming True to Ourselves: Cultural Decolonization and National Identity in the Literature of the Portuguese-Speaking World by Maria Luisa Nunes (review)

114Rocky Mountain Review expressions." But in New Mexico, it is precisely Dodge Luhan, Cather, Nancy Newhall, Laura Gilpin who are "cross-cultural," not Maria Martinez, Nampeyo, Gloria Lopez Cordova, Leslie Silko, or Luci Tapahonso. The ordering reflects an Anglo, "Northeast" geopolitical vision in which Anglo "discoverers" and Anglo analytical discourse come first. Admittedly, the discussion of Georgia O'Keeffe, Nancy Holt, and Michelle Stuart comes in the penultimate essay, and nearly all the Chicana and Native American artists are recent or contemporary, but the structuring metaphor ofa landscape consciousness that begins with Alice Corbin Henderson's 1920 book of poems, Red Earth, runs clearly aground in the discussions of Hispanic folk art and Native American aesthetic canons. I would have begun with the essay on "Southwestern and Indian Women's Art" and followed an order of real history, not the order of Northeast literary tour guides and gallery flyers. But then, I'm sure Yale means well and did the best it could. WILLARD GINGERICH St. John's University MARIA LUISA NUNES. Becoming True to Ourselves: Cultural Decolonization and National Identity in the Literature ofthe Portuguese-Speaking World. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. 94 p. In Becoming True to Ourselves, Maria Luisa Nunes analyzes, as her subtitle says, the process of "cultural decolonization and national identity in the literature ofthe Portuguese-speaking world." As a Luso-Brazilian scholar and "a product of Portuguese colonialism as well as being a second-generation American" (x), Nunes is highly qualified to deal with the topic. The ultimate scope ofthe study is to reveal the relationship between cultural decolonization and national identity with respect to Portugal, Brazil, and Portuguese-speaking Africa, starting with the Cape Verde Islands and Guinea Brissau and proceeding to Sao Tomé and Principe, followed by Moçambique and Angola. The approach the author chooses highlights the complexity ofthe process and, although the political implications are not thoroughly dealt with, the extensive bibliography and the relevant conclusions are thought-provoking and well worth reading. In the introduction, Nunes mentions that one of her most recurring doubts is the extent to which fascism influenced the Portuguese character. In the subsequent chapters, character and identity are constant concerns and the historical and social realities are skillfully dealt with. Few references, though, are related to political issues, and her initial question about fascism remains unanswered. Although the author's purpose is to reveal the process of decolonization and identity through the analysis of literary works of art, it seems to be difficult to dissociate the political from the sociohistorical scene. In addition, despite the accurate inclusion of relevant authors, two names seem not to receive due consideration in the analysis of Brazil: Machado de Assis and Gregorio de Matos. The reason Machado de Assis, considered the Book Reviews115 greatest Brazilian writer and object of analysis in The Craft of an Absolute Winner by the same author, has had only a few references in Becoming True to Ourselves may be linked to the fact that he is more concerned with philosophical analysis of human nature rather than with sociopolitical problems. Gregorio de Matos, however, ought to have been included, in view of the fact that his poetry reveals, in satiric tone, an attempt to break the official ideology of the colonial period in the seventeenth century: Que falta nesta cidade? . . . Verdade Que mais por sua desonra? . . . Honra Falta mais que se lhe ponha? . . . Vergonha. (What is missing in this town? . . . Truth What else for its dishonor? . . . Honor Is there anything left to add? . . . Shame.) The linguistic devices Gregorio de Matos uses link his poetry to that of the modernist Oswald de Andrade and to the songs of the 1970s, creating a bridge between three periods of acute awareness of the country's critical situation and the need of a national identity. Among the many positive aspects ofthe book, two issues that are masterfully addressed by the author are worth special consideration. Nunes' extremely accurate choice of poems from Portuguese-speaking Africa truly represents the voices raised against colonialism. Moreover, the author deserves recognition for her brilliant discussion on Brazilian women writers. Avoiding commonplace and frequently inaccurate discourses about feminism, Nunes insightfully expounds "different ways for...