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Reflexão
Portugal não é um País Pequeno
Map organised by Henrique Galvão, commissioner-general of the 1934 Portuguese Colonial Exhibition in Porto. The map shown in the image is one of the many propaganda products of the Estado Novo, with the aim of empowering the narrative of the ‘greatness’ of the Portuguese empire. The strategy of superimposing the graphic form of the territories of the then Portuguese colonies over the rest of Europe exemplifies the Estado Novo's need to affirm its colonialist strength and the narrative of the Portuguese hero, in constant comparison with the rest of Europe.
Even today, the romanticisation of the colonial invasions and the use of the expression ‘discoveries’ to describe them reveals the narrative importance of this historical period in maintaining national identity. The propaganda continues of the idea that Portugal, such a small country geographically, has managed to ‘own’ a large part of the world, fictionalising the colonisation of other peoples as a source of pride.