World literature and national literatures in Portuguese

Abstract

The paper explores the concept of world literature in the context of national literatures in Portuguese. It analyzes the historical and cultural factors that influenced the formation of Portuguese nationhood, which has been historically linked with empire and colonization, and how this has affected the development of multiple "Lusophonias" (national literatures in Portuguese-speak- ing countries). It also rethinks Portugal's semi-peripheral position in the European and world contexts and its relation to other Portuguese-speaking spaces and the wider world.