Call for Papers
Focusing on the past decade – particularly the summer of 2020 and its aftermath, which witnessed an unprecedented wave of iconoclastic acts against monuments and statues linked to colonialism, white supremacy, and slavery, alongside renewed calls for the decolonisation of museums and urban toponyms – much of the subsequent scholarly attention in English has centred on developments in the Anglophone world. Although these incidents, including but not limited to removals, renaming, and other symbolic transformations are not new and have long been part of political and cultural strategies of regimes and societies throughout history, their contemporary resurgence invites renewed reflection on how tangible and intangible forms of commemorations continue to affect national memory and collective identities. Against this backdrop, this special issue seeks to bring together new studies on parallel and emerging developments within the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) world.
By situating Lusophone case studies within a broader and longer historical pattern of memory contestations, and drawing on postcolonial memory scholarship – among them, Sites of Imperial Memory (Geppert and Müller, 2015) and Postcolonial Realms of Memory (Achille et al., 2020), which extend Pierre Nora’s (1984–1992) concept of lieux de mémoire (‘sites of memory’) to include imperialism and colonialism in national memory – the special issue aims to contribute to the expanding, though still comparatively limited, English-language scholarship on memory activism involving present-day commemorations and spaces connected with Portuguese colonial history. It will examine decolonial practices and explore the (im)possibilities of these efforts, whether through overt acts of iconoclasm or through subtler interventions – such as artistic or media-based engagements with ‘sites’. At the same time, it will recognise that such acts, in seeking either to erase entirely commemorations associated with Portuguese colonialism or to open space alongside commemorations for marginalised voices and silenced histories, simultaneously provoke retaliatory responses from those who criticise these (decolonial) actions. We seek contributions that engage with this outline, and while we welcome all studies addressing memory activism in relation to colonial memory sites of Portuguese provenance within Lusophone spaces, submissions should focus on events from the past decade (2015–2025), or revisit incidents before 2015 if they are examined in light of recent developments concerning ‘sites’, and relate to one or more of the themes listed below.
Commemoration, memory, and resistance in Lusophone contexts:
- Analyses of commemorative and memory politics, including critiques of preservation, erasure, and (re)interpretation by government bodies, cultural institutions, or museums, particularly in relation to enduring colonial heritage and objects associated with colonialism.
- Resistance to decolonisation initiatives, including political, institutional, or social defences of colonial sites, as well as responses from far-right movements, nationalist groups, or other actors opposing changes to public commemorative memory.
- Public debates, controversies, or media coverage surrounding the maintenance, removal, or reinterpretation of colonial monuments and spaces.
Decolonisation, activist interventions, and cultural engagements in Lusophone contexts:
- Acts of iconoclasm, vandalism, and other physical interventions which directly target colonial sites.
- Popular and grassroots activist-led initiatives confronting or transforming Portuguese colonial sites, including protests, guided tours, and pedagogical interventions to decolonise sites.
- Artistic and cultural interventions in any medium – literature, theatre, film, television, photography, or modern artworks – that challenge or reframe colonial sites and their associated narratives.
- Collaborative or participatory projects that amplify marginalised voices, interrogate historical silences, or foster new forms of collective remembrance.
The chosen selection of the articles will be submitted to the journal Portuguese Studies Review for a special issue, with publication anticipated sometime in 2027. Please note that the journal is not open access and is freely available only to members of the Lusophone Studies Association (LSA). Contributors should be aware that the readership is therefore primarily academic and association-affiliated.
Initially, we seek abstracts of 350–500 words from potential contributors, along with a short bio (including institutional affiliation if any) of no more than 250 words. Please note that abstracts that are accepted will likely be included in the special issue following the contents page(s), under the title of contributors. As such, please ensure high-quality abstract submissions.
Abstracts, titles, and short bios must be sent by 31 March 2026 to both editors of the special issue: Andrew Nunes (studies.andrewnunes@gmail.com) and Leonor Rosas (leosrosas@gmail.com)
The goal is to incorporate nine articles with an introduction by the editors, resulting in the special issue consisting of ten articles. Once authors are informed if their abstract has been accepted (first in the special issue proposal to be sent to Portuguese Studies Review, and then in the final issue if it is accepted by the journal) authors will be required to submit their article of no more than 7,000–8,000 words, including footnotes, by 30 October 2026. Please note to NOT include images in your submissions, so please best describe anything that would otherwise have been done so using visual figures. Moreover, submissions must be in English and follow British spelling and the Chicago Manual of Style (footnote referencing with no bibliography at the end of the article). After receiving feedback from both the editors and anonymous reviewers, authors will revise their articles and send their finalised version in accordance with the provisional timeline below:
UNDERTAKINGS AND DUE DATES:
‘Call for Papers’ published online to solicit potential contributors. Dec. 2025
Potential contributors submit title, abstract (350–500 words, excluding references), and short bio (250 words). 31 Mar 2026
Editors review abstracts and notify contributors of acceptance or rejection. Apr. 2026
Submission of full special issue proposal to Portuguese Studies Review. May 2026
Contributors notified of acceptance of the full proposal and invited to submit full articles. May 2026
Submission of full articles (7,000–8,000 words, including footnotes; no images; English – British spelling; Chicago Manual of Style). 30 Oct. 2026
Full paper review by editors and anonymous peer reviewers. Nov. 2026 – Jan. 2027
Contributors submit revised papers based on reviewer/editor feedback. Feb. – Mar. 2027
Finalisation of special issue for journal editorial board review. Apr. – Jun. 2027
Target publication of special issue in Portuguese Studies Review. Q3–4 2027
We thank you for your interest in this special issue and look forward to receiving your submissions.
WORKS CITED:
Achille, Etienne, Charles Forsdick and Lydie Moudileno (eds.), Postcolonial Realms of Memory: Sites and Symbols in Modern France (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2020).
Geppert, Dominik and Frank Lorenz Müller (eds.), Sites of Imperial Memory: Commemorating Colonial Rule in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015).
Nora, Pierre (ed.), Les Lieux de Mémoire, 7 volumes (Paris: Gallimard, 1984–1992).
SELECT FURTHER READINGS:
Bethencourt, Francisco, ‘A Memória da Expansão’, in Francisco Bethencourt and Kirti Chaudhuri (eds.), História da Expansão Portuguesa: Ultimo Imperio e Recentramento (1930–1998), vol. 5 (Lisbon: Circulo de Leitores, 1999), pp. 442–80.
Cardina, Miguel, O Atrito da Memória: Colonialismo, Guerra e Descolonização no Portugal Contemporâneo (Lisbon: Tinta da China, 2023).
Gensburger, Sarah and Jenny Wüstenberg (eds.), De-Commemoration: Removing Statues and Renaming Places (Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2023).
Gutman, Yifat and Jenny Wüstenberg et al. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Memory Activism (Abingdon: Routledge, 2023).
Jerónimo, Miguel Bandeira and Walter Rossa (eds.), Patrimónios Contestados (Lisbon: Público, 2021).
Nunes, Andrew, ‘Decolonising Difficult Heritage Through Political Graffiti: (Re)Interpreting the Commemoration of Pedro Álvares Cabral in Santarém, Portugal’, Patrimônio e Memória, vol. 21, no. 1 (2025), 1–29.
Peralta, Elsa, Lisboa e a Memória do Império: Património, Museus e Espaço Público (Lisbon: Outro Modo and Le Monde Diplomatique – Edição Portuguesa, 2017).
Ribeiro, Carla, ‘Wars of Memory and Identity Narratives in a Post-colonial World: The Case of the Monument to the Discoveries in Lisbon’, in Rodrigo Christofoletti (ed.), Heritage in Eight Acts: International Themes (Cham: Springer, 2024), pp. 1–22.
Rosas, Leonor, De quem se esqueceu Lisboa? - A luta pela inscrição da memória anticolonial e antirracista no espaço público (Vila Nova de Famalicão: Húmus, 2023).
Sousa, Vítor de, ‘Memory as an Interculturality Booster in Maputo, Through the Preservation of the Colonial Statuary’, Comunicação e Sociedade, special issue (2019), 269–86.
