PhD Thesis proposal

Territorial visions of the Portuguese Enlightenment in Southern Africa

Supervisor/s: Renata Malcher de Araujo and Walter Rossa

Doctoral Programme: Heritages of Portuguese Influence

Funding: FCT

In the second half of the 18th century, the Portuguese Crown attempted to re-establish its colonies in Africa, in the context of an enlightenment inspired global project for the Empire. During that time, in the proposed reforms, territory and urban space were used as resources and instruments for the achievement of that policy.

In Southern Africa, the foundation and evolution of the spaces of Portuguese influence was, until then, related to the colonial and commercial networks installed in the respective oceans. Although there wasn't any direct connection between Angola and Benguela Kingdoms, and Mozambique, and "Sena and Sofala Rivers", the ambition to bring together both African coasts gained, in the eighteenth century, precise dimensions and a sense of purpose that needs to be examined in relation to the actions undertaken by the Crown.

For my thesis, being developed in the Heritage of Portuguese Influence Doctoral Programme, I'm investigating what were the territorial visions that created and were being created by the Portuguese enlightenment project for these territories. Also I'm examining if, in said actions and reforms, we can perceive any concrete project to connect both African coasts. To do so, it's necessary to study the way the territory was understood and represented, how the appropriation of space was made, how the ambitioned urban and territorial network was thought and established. Through this perspective, I intend to understand the global dimensions and the connections to other imperial spaces, as well as the local dimensions that imposed, or not, adaptations and changes to the Crown proposals, and the underlying reasons.