“From ‘Portugality’ to Lusophony”. Interview with Vítor de Sousa

On July 10, Vítor de Sousa officially launched his book “From ‘Portugality’ to Lusophony”, at the Book Fair in Braga. Moisés de Lemos Martins, director of CECS and supervisor of the doctoral thesis that gave rise to the book , was chosen to comment on the work that seeks “to observe how ‘portugalidade’ punctuates the construction of lusophony”.

One hot afternoon, dozens were those who attended the Forum of the Book Fair to know a little more about Portugal and Lusophony.

In an interview with CECS, Vítor de Sousa contextualized the work presented and the role that the Communication and Society Research Centre had and has in research on Lusophony.

Moisés Martins commented the book through History itself. He recalled the existence of “stereotypes about the essence of being Portuguese” and the role that Salazar played in the construction of these. According to what Vítor de Sousa refers to in “From Portugal to Lusophony”, the director of CECS emphasizes that the social sciences are critical and, therefore, they deconstruct many of these stereotypes, namely “the idea that countries have an essence or definite and definitive identity”. Moisés Martins is therefore of the opinion that “our life depends on the decisions we have made”. He argues, therefore, that Portugality, as “intrinsic quality that gives us unity or identity” is not a definition well seen in the social sciences.