Lusophone postcolonialism: fundamental questions

Abstract

Historical and sociological discoveries have contributed decisively in literary criticism. Once the post-colonial entered the academy, issues hitherto forgotten by hegemonic critical studies were brought into question, leading researchers to develop new instruments to deal with these new problems. Therefore, in order to make a contribution in the context of the Community of Portuguese-speaking African Nations, we gathered a few critical studies on the process of colonization. Two structural elements of (post-)colonial African societies resulted of this analysis, in a very clear way: cultural hybridity and social dualism. The identification of these structural elements of Lusophone colonialism allows us to perceive issues still present in Portugal’s former colonies in Africa. In this study, we intend to outline the main points listed by postcolonial critics about these elements, as well as suggest to studies on African literature of Portuguese language a critical path in which hybridity and dualism are analyzed as a legacy of colonization.