Past, memory and politics of culture. Colonial heritage in Portugal

Abstract

This Master's thesis explores the representations of the colonial past in Portugal's heritage landscape and investigates how this past is portrayed in a postcolonial context. The study focuses on the mainstream narrative of Portuguese history and aims to understand why the history of colonialism in Portugal still privileges the colonizer's efforts and silence the voice of the colonized. By examining cultural institutions such as museums and monuments, which serve as important symbols of national identity and memory, the research maps out the presence and treatment of colonial symbolism in Portugal's cultural and public spaces. Drawing on the theories of postcolonialism and critical heritage studies, the study examines the representations of the colonial past in the official public narrative. It analyzes selected case studies, including the Monument to the Discoveries and the Monument to the Colonial Empire in Porto, as well as the World of Discoveries museum in Porto and the Museum of the Geographical Society of Lisbon. These sites are situated in significant tourist and historical cities, offering insights into how the difficult past of the "Golden Age of Discoveries" and the 19th-century Colonial Empire is explored within the official national narrative.