Decolonizing the mind? The representation of the African Colonial War in Portuguese cinema

Abstract

This article analyses two of Portuguese cinema's few feature films that engage with the Colonial War, which took place in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique between 1961 and 1974. Its main objective is to examine how Um Adeus Português/A Portuguese Farewell (João Botelho, 1985) and NON ou a Vã Glória de Mandar/NO or the Vain Glory of Command (Manoel de Oliveira, 1990) position themselves in relation to the hegemonic and counter-hegemonic powers common to postcoloniality. I will argue that while the earlier film concentrates on personal reasons for the silence surrounding the war, the later one offers a complex historical analysis of Portugal's desire for expansion. However, although the films interrogate hegemonic memories and assumptions about the war, I will show that they also maintain colonialist/imperialist discourses by either defending a rather positive picture of intercultural harmony or by assuming, even though only partly, a remystifying ahistorical view. The article further suggests that although the films articulate a double consciousness, they nonetheless break the silence regarding the Colonial War and, moreover, represent a step forward in terms of the re-configuration of power relations and modes of representation.