Portugal is destiny. Having completed the bicentennial of independence, the Brazilian nation was finally able to discover, love and understand its Lusitanian roots without trauma.
This is a moment of historic dimension for the two sister countries that share the same language, much of the same history and, in certain quantities, also the same culture.
Adding up “foreigners” residents and Brazilians with European citizenship, it is estimated that in Portugal there are around 700 thousand souls who speak the language of Amado, Krenak, Farias, Machado, Veloso, Lispector and many others who, in Brazilian Portuguese, make the our culture in the universal panorama.
But if, for the Portuguese, this is the welcome people that is so necessary to mitigate an incurable demographic insufficiency, for Brazilians the Portuguese country appears today as a mythical place, a promised land and a new family home, built by a will belonging —probably for the first time explicitly— to its historical matrix.
Today Portugal welcomes new Brazilians ready to be part of its society and capable of enriching the cultural, social and economic environment. For such a small country, it is impossible to ignore such a large community and, therefore, in need of permanent recognition and integration.
Some entities —such as Associação Portugal Brasil 200 anos, of which I am a founder— emerged as a result of this new context and are essential for conceiving and building alliances and correspondences between Portuguese and Brazilian cultures. They are a finding force.
Cultural projects such as 200 years, 200 books or Questions about Brazil —both of which were developed in partnership with Sheet and Portuguese and Brazilian institutions—dimension the role of Brazilian culture in the global context of the Portuguese language and are builders of effective bridges between the Brazilian and Portuguese communities, which increasingly live and create in a dematerialized diaspora.
They are real bridges that bring together Portuguese and Brazilians who choose the “other” country to live and produce.
Lisbon, the city that is home to the most Brazilians in Portugal, is therefore an important cultural center in Brazil, contributing to the creation of a “Brazilianness” that is as foreign in geography as it is autochthonous in authenticity.
Using common language, culture and history, these projects are instruments of language citizenship. A new condition that goes beyond pacts and borders and defines a new statute that unites beyond what already exists, creating a citizenship that transcends.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
