Portugal fabricated an imagined founding history to justify its empire.
Evidence
Portugal wanted and believed a history of her own, and she did this with such intensity that she was successful little by little incorporating both an imagined history and the practice of imagining it into the process of her authentic existence. The imperial enterprises; the enduring imprint of Portugal in Brazil, in the East Indies, and in Africa; the imposing figures of Vasco da Gama, Affonso de Albuquerque, Ferdinand Magellan, and others; the works of Gil Vicente and Camoems—all this and more have motivated the recreation of the origins of Portugal. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 480
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- XREF: Portugal’s invented national origin myth parallels the book’s broader theme of how European consciousness was constituted by erasing lived historical reality - including the African past.
- SEED: Essay angle on how imperial powers construct usable invented pasts to ground present claims of sovereignty.
Related
- Nationalist founding myths are actively imagined into a people’s authentic self-understanding. (similarity 0.92)
- Portuguese national identity was fabricated by non-Portuguese European aristocratic migrants. (similarity 0.84)
- Contradictory explanations for Iberian history can both be true. (similarity 0.80)
- Portugal’s imperial role masks a web of supranational commercial interests shaping African labor exploitation (similarity 0.80)