The US and Portuguese colonialism as imagined through television drama

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Abstract

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Portuguese empire (mainly Macao, but also
Mozambique) became a recurrent setting for the TV fiction of the United States of
America, particularly through tales of adventure and espionage. This chapter examines the ways in which those programmes, shaped by plot formulas and Cold War politics, presented the colonial situation and, crucially, how they envisioned the US role – first as Portugal’s partner and later as its competitor. The chapter concludes that, although the images of Portuguese colonialism in television drama became gradually disenchanted, thrillers disregarded the liberation struggle taking place in Africa and continuously presented the Estado Novo as a close ally of the United States.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication(Re)imagining African Independence
Subtitle of host publicationFilm, Visual Arts and the Fall of the Portuguese Empire
EditorsMaria do Carmo Piçarra, Teresa Castro
PublisherPeter Lang
Pages131-149
Number of pages19
ISBN (Electronic)9781787076389
ISBN (Print)9781787073180
Publication statusPublished - 27 Jul 2017

Publication series

NameReconfiguring Identities in the Portuguese-Speaking World

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