Title: Lusophony or the Haunted Logic of Postempire
Abstract: Frequently, Lusophony is described as a kind of dream; although more often than not it is also denounced as a nightmare.Eduardo Lourenço, easily the most distinguished of commentators on this topic, has himself, in his inimitable style, described the multiple paradoxical contradictions intrinsic to what he has termed a mirage (Lourenço 1999).At least since the 1990's, especially after the 17th July 1996 official inauguration of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), much has been written about it, its history, ambitions, failures, and possible futures (Cahen 2015).It is never too much to insist on the crucial distinction between Lusophony and Lusotopy.Whereas Lusophony cannot escape its neocolonial entanglements, Lusotopy, on the contrary, strives precisely not only to go beyond, but against them.As Michel Cahen and Irène dos Santos point out in the Introduction, "The concept of Lusotopia makes it possible, in the social sciences, to express realities outside neo-imperialist ideology ".Besides the obvious investment of the CPLP, Lusophony has also been debated by academics, artists, writers, politicians and there have been numerous published essays, as well as conferences dedicated to the topic.Polemics between those who see Lusophony as a wonderful force for bringing about a new kind of supra-national community and those, with whom I would side, that see it rather as either a form of delusion at best, or ultimately a thinly veiled neocolonial instrument, have been going on at least since the extensive volume of Lusotopie, « Lusotropicalisme.Idéologies coloniales et identités nationales dans les mondes lusophones » (1997), followed by Alfredo Margarido who published his denunciation in A Lusofonia e os Lusófonos.Novos Mitos Portugueses in 2000.More recently, a number of detailed and varied essays have significantly enlarged the debate and, it would seem, have dealt with it, exposing many of the problems associated with the concept and the very term, while still recognizing the ambition of bringing the various literatures written in Portuguese in closer contact.Perhaps the most extensive collection of essays on the subject so far is the one assembled by Moisés de Lemos Martins, Lusofonia e Interculturalidade.Promessa e Travessia (Martins 2015).His introduction is very valuable to trace the development of the concept and various uses to which it has been put.Although fully aware of the common traps associated with the concept, Martins still maintains a very positive attitude to it.Here, I will simply note further the work of Paula Medeiros on "Lusofonia: Discursos e Representações" (2006) as a sort of model, inasmuch as it attempts a thorough, and as neutral as possible, discussion of the concept and its representations.But, not only has Lusophony