Call for vol. 18, no. 36 - Literature of the Empire and Overseas: contemporary readings

Call for vol. 18, no. 36 - Submission deadline: May 1st 2025 until November 15th 2025
Publication: April 2026

THEME – Literature of the Empire and Overseas: contemporary readings
Guest editors: Mário César Lugarinho (USP) and Silvio Renato Jorge (UFF)

Portuguese Colonial Literature, a vast, and little explored collection, emerged with the Colonial Literature Competition (1926), aiming to foster both an imperial imaginary and the effective occupation of Portuguese colonial territories. Funded by the Estado Novo and civil society, the competitions, in their early years, promoted a cultural production that exalted the Portuguese “civilizing mission” on the African continent. Later, under the aegis of “Ultramarine Portugal” and lusotropicalism, and under the name of the Overseas Literature Competition (1954), it sought to recognize literary production in the territories, renewing Portuguese identity. Furthermore, the competitions fostered an extensive cultural production that developed in many forms: exhibitions, periodicals, architectural and urban interventions, public policies etc. After the 25th of April, this literature was erased, but its production was often found in African literary systems and recognized as national literature. The apparent contradiction met the historical and cultural urgency of both the former metropolis and the nations emerging from colonialism. Critical analysis of this production is crucial to understanding the formation of African literary systems and their representations under colonialism. Abril, the Journal of the Center for the Study of Portuguese and African Literatures, invites researchers to reflect on this colonial past and the post-colonial present, addressing topics such as literary systems, colonial society, literary aesthetics, competitions, Lusotropicalism, and colonialism.

Keywords: Colonial literature. Post-colonialism. Literary systems