Abstract
The article stems from representations from José Saramago’s novel The stone raft released in the year when Portugal joined the European Economic Community, to revisit Eduardo Lourenço’s concept of “imagery”. It is an attempt to understand how traumatic episodes of the Portuguese history gave birth, in the past, to Iberian projects and to a diminished Portuguese self-image, especially in relation to Portugal’s position amongst the other European countries. A criticism is made as to the functionality of Lourenço’s concept, paying attention to its inherent fragilities and having a moderating attitude also based in Portugal’s history, but stemming from a broader view, in contrast with the position of the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner. The text tries to establish a dialogue between History of Ideas and History tout court with the purpose of enriching the analysis about Portugal’s place in Europe.
Keywords
History; Portugal; European Economic Community; Imagery; Iberism