Where is our Homeland; where do we return?

Abstract

The article explores the subject of returnees from the former Portuguese colony Angola. In the novel O Retorno by Dulce Maria Cardoso, we follow the story of a family of returnees with powerful symbolism. The mother represents the schism between the two worlds, the real, material one, and the invisible. She also symbolizes the pain felt by the returnees due to not finding home “at home”, in Portugal, which should be their homeland, but treats them like second-class citizens. She is also a mirror reflecting the internal world of the characters. The father symbolizes the earth, the house and represents a safe haven for his family. His role is partly taken over by their son Rui, also the narrator, during the early period of their living in Portugal. He symbolizes the future and calls for “non-blindness” on the matter of the former colonies. He overcomes fear, omnipresent in the novel, of the mother’s “demons”, his own fear and fear of the future. In the future, in a new era, the present will be constructed, as will the real Homeland, wherever it may be − in the metropole or in the colonies.