Visions portugaises du Maroc: d'un territoire à nous à un pays pour tous

Abstract

For reasons that are not easy to understand, Morocco is not a common theme, neither in the bibliography nor in Portreasons that are not easy to understand, Morocco is not a common theme, neither in the bibliography nor in Portuguese literature. This article attempts to analyse the little that has been published on the subject over the past century, suggesting that Morocco's vision can be seen in two stages. The first, in addition to devaluing the territory, its culture and its inhabitants, tends to underline the Portuguese signs that have remained in Morocco and even to claim the so-called historical rights of Portugal. In a second phase, Morocco is perceived as a complex and attractive country, marked by a compromise between tradition and modernity. This vision appears in photographic albums (like that of Alexander Alves Costa and Álvaro Siza) and in travel books (by journalists like Miguel Sousa Tavares and Maria João Ruela or by philologists like Fernando Venâncio). Interestingly, and perhaps in upstream, Morocco also appears in two recent novels by little-known authors (Luís Soares and Miguel Velha Braga) as a scenario related to drug trafficking.