The portuguese colonial press and the Estado Novo

Abstract

This essay discusses the Boletim Geral das Colónias (General Bulletin of the Colonies), which was renamed and continued to appear as the Boletim Geral do Ultramar (General Bulletin of the Overseas), as an informative vehicle about the field of art and letters during the Portuguese Colonial Empire. Based on the monthly publication of the section ‘Arts and Letters,’ which began in February 1948, this study explores the sudden integration of a space dedicated to literary and cultural divulgation into such a publication. It furtherly discusses the form in which it was transmitted to the public; the advantages of this type of divulgation within the Portuguese colonial space; the dynamics between center and the peripheries; and, in a wider sense, how this space contributed to the construction of a cultural imaginary about the colonies and about the colonizer