O exotismo na literatura orientalista portuguesa

Abstract

This paper results from an investigation with the theme of Chinese images in Portuguese literary Orientalism. The study will show the situation of Portugal in the period, which reveals the double axis (Western and national) of the critique of Orientalism Portuguese. We will look for the oriental representations in the works of the authors of the Generation of 1870, whose works renew Portuguese literature with orientalist tendencies. Next, we will develop a reading of the images of Macau in authors of the territory, which configure the symbolism in Portuguese. In addition, oriental exoticism is highlighted in Chinese female images in the works of Wenceslau de Moraes (1854-1929) and Maria Ondina Braga (1932-2003). The analysis of the female images will show the observation of the Portuguese authors about the Eastern Other. The three facets of reading will facilitate the understanding of the double axis of criticism and the perception of the construction of the Lusitanian identity with the literary imaginary of the exotic East.