From the Museums of the Discoveries to the Exhibitions of the Empire: The Colonial Body in Portugal

Abstract:

This paper is inserted in the current debates on the memory of Portuguese colonialism. This memory is analyze it from the Intersectionality between Gender, Race and Sexuality. The focus is on the narratives around the Colonial Body present in the Portuguese Discoveries Museums and the Exhibitions of the Portuguese Empire. The methodology follows an inspiration in the Michel Foucault analysis of the discourses. As research techniques, it is used: direct observation and interviews, in the case of Museums; and, the historical documentary analysis in secondary sources, in the case of Exhibitions. The conclusions point out that there is an attempt of discursive displacement on the part of the Museums, which seek to dissociate Discoveries and Colonization. However, there are also many repeating discursive elements, such as nudity and exoticism, rebuilding the Coloniality of Bodies of non-European origin.

Keywords:
Colonial Body; Museums; Portugal; Discourses