The construction of a transnational Lusophone media space: A historiographic analysis

ABSTRACT

This piece examines the historical construction of a Lusophone cultural-linguistic media space and market that spans portions of Europe, Africa, and South America. Beginning with the Portuguese colonization of Brazil and Lusophone Africa in the 17th century and continuing to the contemporary moment, our discussion examines how a combination of political, ideological, and economic patterns created linkages between Portugal, Brazil, and Portuguese-speaking colonies in Africa (namely Angola, Cape Verde, and Mozambique). After examining how Brazil grew to become the dominant cultural producer in this transnational matrix (most explicitly expressed through the massive exports of telenovelas and music since the late 1970s), we examine how other countries are beginning to carve out distinctive national niches, including the contemporary music scene in Cape Verde and the rise of domestically produced telenovelas in Portugal and Angola that are increasing in circulation in the contemporary transnational Lusophone media space.

Notes

¹ Our combined focus on ideological and economic power follows in many ways what political economists Winseck and Peck call “structural power” or “dominance that draws on both material and symbolic resources” (2007, p. 9).

² We have chosen to address newspapers and not books during this period due to lack of availability of materials covering this area in the Lusophone African context. While there have been several studies examining the history of Brazilian literature during the colonial period (e.g., Monteiro, 1961) as well as the history of the print industry (e.g., Hallewall, 1982), the coverage on the history of literature and book production in Mozambique, Angola, etc. is not well documented.

³ Although less empirical data is available for analysis, TV Globo’s telenovelas also exported very well to Lusophone countries in Africa. Interviews conducted by one of the authors with programmers at Radio TV Mozambique in 1992 and 1996 noted the popularity of TV Globo’s telenovelas among their audience. They have had considerably cultural impact (Pota Pacamutondo, 2014), as Brazilian music did earlier (and still does).