‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2012 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10773/39017 |
Resumo: | Representations of the Portuguese in American literature are clearly predicated on prevailing theories of race in America. As Eric Sundquist has claimed in To Wake the Nations, this former slaveholding country is one where “race remains very much at the center of [...] experience.” Race and racism, Toni Morrison reminds us in Playing in the Dark, are issues that literary critics have resisted addressing, as “silence and evasion have historically ruled literary discourse.” Like Morrison, I also wish to “identify those moments when American literature was complicit in the fabrication of racism.” “Racism,” Morrison argues, “is as healthy today as it was during the Enlightenment.” It is now widely accepted that Americans have been obsessed by skin color and that the darker complexion of Southern Europeans has produced anxiety and discomfort in Americans of Northern European stock. This rhetoric was also applied to the three historical figures represented by the statues evoking three major figures associated with American culture. To name, two that were actually erected on American soil (João Rodrigues Cabrilho in San Diego, California, and Peter Francisco in several Portuguese communities in the United States) and one that never made it to inauguration, Catarina de Bragança. The erection of these statues honoring Portuguese historical figures was mostly perceived as a means to counter patronizing attitudes towards Portuguese Americans or for motives associated with ethnic pride, racism, and recognition. If American literature was shaped by racial discourse, this paper will argue that it was also applied to art in general, that is, even statues such as these were “played” with because of the “darkness” evoked by these three historical figures. |
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‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de BragançaPortuguese american statues in the United States of AmericaJuan Rodriguez CabrilloPeter FranciscoCatherine of BraganzaRepresentations of the Portuguese in American literature are clearly predicated on prevailing theories of race in America. As Eric Sundquist has claimed in To Wake the Nations, this former slaveholding country is one where “race remains very much at the center of [...] experience.” Race and racism, Toni Morrison reminds us in Playing in the Dark, are issues that literary critics have resisted addressing, as “silence and evasion have historically ruled literary discourse.” Like Morrison, I also wish to “identify those moments when American literature was complicit in the fabrication of racism.” “Racism,” Morrison argues, “is as healthy today as it was during the Enlightenment.” It is now widely accepted that Americans have been obsessed by skin color and that the darker complexion of Southern Europeans has produced anxiety and discomfort in Americans of Northern European stock. This rhetoric was also applied to the three historical figures represented by the statues evoking three major figures associated with American culture. To name, two that were actually erected on American soil (João Rodrigues Cabrilho in San Diego, California, and Peter Francisco in several Portuguese communities in the United States) and one that never made it to inauguration, Catarina de Bragança. The erection of these statues honoring Portuguese historical figures was mostly perceived as a means to counter patronizing attitudes towards Portuguese Americans or for motives associated with ethnic pride, racism, and recognition. If American literature was shaped by racial discourse, this paper will argue that it was also applied to art in general, that is, even statues such as these were “played” with because of the “darkness” evoked by these three historical figures.As imagens de portugueses na literatura norte-americana estão baseadas nas teorias de raça predominantes nos Estados Unidos da América. Outrora um país esclavagista, Eric Sundquist defendeu em To Wake the Nations que ainda hoje as «questões raciais continuam a ocupar um lugar de destaque» no dia-a-dia deste país. As questões raciais e o racismo, recorda-nos Toni Morrison na sua obra, Playing in the Dark, são assuntos que os críticos literários evitaram abordar porque, numa perspectiva histórica, o «silêncio e a evasão têm dominado o discurso literário». Tal como Morrison, nós também gostaríamos de «identificar esses momentos em que a literatura norte-americana foi cúmplice no fabrico do racismo». «O racismo», argumenta Morrison, «está tão saudável hoje como durante o Iluminismo». Hoje em dia, é usualmente aceite que os americanos têm sido obcecados pela cor da pele e que a tez mais escura dos povos do sul da Europa tem despertado ansiedade e uma sensação de desconforto nos americanos cuja origem provém dos povos da Europa do norte. Esta retórica também foi aplicada às três figuras históricas representadas pelas estátuas que evocam três figuras associadas à cultura norte-americana. A saber: duas que foram efectivamente erigidas em solo americano (João Rodrigues Cabrilho, em São Diego, na Califórnia, e a de Peter Francisco, em várias comunidades portuguesas nos Estados Unidos) e uma outra, que nunca chegou a ser inaugurada, a Catarina de Bragança. Com o intuito de dignificar estas figuras históricas portuguesas, o erguer destas estátuas era visto como uma tentativa de contrariar as atitudes de condescendência para com os luso-americanos, ou por outros motivos, tais como o orgulho étnico, o racismo e o reconhecimento. Se a literatura norte-americana foi, efectivamente, moldada por esse discurso racial, o presente ensaio pretende demonstrar que esta retórica também foi aplicada à arte em geral, designadamente às estátuas em apreço daquelas figuras históricas.UA Editora2023-07-25T15:47:11Z2012-01-01T00:00:00Z2012-01-01info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10773/39017eng0870-154710.34624/rual.v0i1.9569Silva, Reinaldo Franciscoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2024-02-22T12:16:17Zoai:ria.ua.pt:10773/39017Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-20T03:09:20.024337Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança |
title |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança |
spellingShingle |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança Silva, Reinaldo Francisco Portuguese american statues in the United States of America Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Peter Francisco Catherine of Braganza |
title_short |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança |
title_full |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança |
title_fullStr |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança |
title_full_unstemmed |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança |
title_sort |
‘Playing in the Dark’ with Portuguese Statues in the United States of America: João Rodrigues Cabrilho, Peter Francisco, and Catarina de Bragança |
author |
Silva, Reinaldo Francisco |
author_facet |
Silva, Reinaldo Francisco |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Silva, Reinaldo Francisco |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Portuguese american statues in the United States of America Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Peter Francisco Catherine of Braganza |
topic |
Portuguese american statues in the United States of America Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Peter Francisco Catherine of Braganza |
description |
Representations of the Portuguese in American literature are clearly predicated on prevailing theories of race in America. As Eric Sundquist has claimed in To Wake the Nations, this former slaveholding country is one where “race remains very much at the center of [...] experience.” Race and racism, Toni Morrison reminds us in Playing in the Dark, are issues that literary critics have resisted addressing, as “silence and evasion have historically ruled literary discourse.” Like Morrison, I also wish to “identify those moments when American literature was complicit in the fabrication of racism.” “Racism,” Morrison argues, “is as healthy today as it was during the Enlightenment.” It is now widely accepted that Americans have been obsessed by skin color and that the darker complexion of Southern Europeans has produced anxiety and discomfort in Americans of Northern European stock. This rhetoric was also applied to the three historical figures represented by the statues evoking three major figures associated with American culture. To name, two that were actually erected on American soil (João Rodrigues Cabrilho in San Diego, California, and Peter Francisco in several Portuguese communities in the United States) and one that never made it to inauguration, Catarina de Bragança. The erection of these statues honoring Portuguese historical figures was mostly perceived as a means to counter patronizing attitudes towards Portuguese Americans or for motives associated with ethnic pride, racism, and recognition. If American literature was shaped by racial discourse, this paper will argue that it was also applied to art in general, that is, even statues such as these were “played” with because of the “darkness” evoked by these three historical figures. |
publishDate |
2012 |
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2012-01-01T00:00:00Z 2012-01-01 2023-07-25T15:47:11Z |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
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http://hdl.handle.net/10773/39017 |
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eng |
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UA Editora |
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UA Editora |
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