Commemoration, imperial nostalgia and social strain: Portugal-Brazil divergence

Abstract

The commemorations of the discovery of Brazil set the stage for semantic conflict between the governments of both nation states--Brazil and Portugal. In the latter, the rhetoric was focused on the notion of "discovery", whereas in the former it was on the notion of "500 hundred years of Brazil". Social movements in Brazil which are engaged in cultural politics--Black movement, Indigenous rights' organizations, and the progressive inteligentsia--challenged the rationale of the commemorations. In Portugal, however, these reinforced imperial nostalgia, thus making clear that Portuguese postcolonial identity is still represented around the imagery of the discoveries--and it is blind regarding the new migratory and multicultural aspects of the nation.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v17i2.455