The construction of portugalidade in Portuguese literature and its deconstruction in Mário de Carvalho's Fantasia para dois Coronéis e uma Piscina

Hatton, Anneliese Felicity (2014). The construction of portugalidade in Portuguese literature and its deconstruction in Mário de Carvalho's Fantasia para dois Coronéis e uma Piscina. University of Birmingham. M.A.

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Abstract

National identity discourse has proliferated since the nineteenth-century, and this has been reflected in the construction and analysis of \(portugalidade\) as Portugal has undergone significant historical and social transformations. This discourse has developed within Portuguese imagology and is consistently based upon the central imagery of the Discoveries. Although there have been changes intended to either support or question the ruling elite, the imperial motif has remained throughout. The end of the Estado Novo and the Portuguese empire means that former identity discourse must be reappraised in an attempt to construct a post-imperial identity. However, even as these notions have come to be deconstructed through the use of irony and parody in postmodern literature, the centrality of the imagery of the Discoveries endures. This is particularly evident in Mário de Carvalho’s 2003 novel \(Fantasia\) \(para\) \(dois\) \(Coronéis\) \(e\) \(uma\) \(Piscina\), where he uses metafictive techniques to analyse contemporary \(portugalidade\). His construction of various characters parodies Portuguese imagology in order to question its legitimacy, as well as portraying the importance of agency within identity discourse through his manipulation of the reader using subversion. This emphasises the necessity of the deconstruction of \(portugalidade\) in order to fully understand its contemporary relevance.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.A.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.A.

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