The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and the Luso-African identity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.17.2020.68.10Keywords:
CPLP, Luso-Africa, Lusophony, Portuguese language, international cooperation, cultural identityAbstract
The article aims at searching for the correlation between the Luso-African identity, understood as a form of cultural identity based on the concept of Lusophony, and The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), an international organisation that brings together countries whose official language is Portuguese. The CPLP is considered as an institutional emanation of the idea of Lusophony. However, for almost 25 years since its creation it still receives a lot of criticism. Despite the multiplicity of initiatives that it proposed, for a long time it seemed that the CPLP did not really move beyond the concept phase. Furthermore, until recently the organisation has focused mainly on cultural and political cooperation, leaving behind its enormous economic possibilities and provoking questions about an untapped potential of the CPLP. The paper attempts to reflect on the hypothesis that the limited capacities of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries regarding the African continent are, at least partially, related to the problem with Luso-African identity. The considerations presented in the article are based on the critical reading of the literature of the subject, qualitative analysis of the already existing data (official documents and the press, available statistics), as well as the author’s reflections drawn from observations, interviews and informal talks conducted during field research in Mozambique (2015) and Guinea-Bissau (2016), along with multiple study visits to Portugal (2011-2016), while realizing the research project devoted to the problem of state dysfunctionality in the Lusophone Africa.
Downloads
PlumX Metrics of this article
References
“IV Recenseamento geral da população e da habitação 2012 (IV RGPH 2012). Resultados gerais sobre localidades”, Instituto Nacional de Estatística de São Tomé e Príncipe, at <https://www.ine.st/phocadownload/userupload/Documentos/DADOS%20LOCALIDADE%20PROJEÇÕES/Publicação%20dos%20Resultados%20sobre%20Localidades%20-%20IV%20RGPH%202012.pdf>.
Google Scholar
“IV Recenseamento geral da população e habitação 2017. Resultados definitivos Moçambique”, Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Maputo – Abril, at <http://www.ine.gov.mz/iv-rgph-2017/mocambique/censo-2017-brochura-dos-resultados-definitivos-do-iv-rgph-nacional.pdf/view>.
Google Scholar
“About UEMOA”, West African Economic and Monetary Union, at <http://www.uemoa.int/en/about-uemoa>.
Google Scholar
Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII) Platform, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, at <https://arii.uneca.org/en-US>.
Google Scholar
African Regional Integration Index, African Union Commission, African Development Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, at <https://www.integrate-africa.org>.
Google Scholar
“Angolan Rapper Luaty Beirao Jailed for Rebellion”, BBC News, at <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35912505>.
Google Scholar
“Aprovação de documento final sobre mobilidade na CPLP passa para julho de 2021”, RTP Notícias, at <https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/economia/aprovacao-de-documento-final-sobre-mobilidade-na-cplp-passa-para-julho-de-2021_n1271229>.
Google Scholar
Beirão L., “Grande Entrevista”, RTP, episode 42, at <https://www.rtp.pt/play/p2234/e263226/grande-entrevista>.
Google Scholar
Charchalis W., “Lusofonia – entre mito, história e futuro”, Studia Romanica Posnaniensia, vol. 46, no. 3 (2019), https://doi.org/10.14746/strop.2019.463.006.
Google Scholar
Charchalis W., “Luzotropikalizm – dwa przypadki transatlantyckiej wymiany tej samej idei”, in J. Łapott, E. Prądzyńska (eds.), Ex Africa semper aliquid novi, vol. 1, Żory 2014.
Google Scholar
“Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)”, Mapping African Regional Cooperation, European Council on Foreign Relations, at <https://ecfr.eu/special/african-cooperation/censad/>.
Google Scholar
Couto H.H. do, Embaló F., “Literatura, língua e cultura na Guiné-Bissau”, PAPIA. Revista Brasileira de Estudos do Contato Linguístico, vol. 20 (2010).
Google Scholar
Couto M., “Afonia luzofońska: luzofonia między podróżą a zbrodnią”, transl. by A. Kalewska, in J.C. Dias, J. Jankowski, D. Kwinta, Naszyjnik z opowiadań. Wybór, Warszawa 2008.
Google Scholar
“Covid-19: Cimeira da CPLP deve realizar-se em julho de 2021 em Luanda – secretário executive”, Visão, at <https://visao.sapo.pt/atualidade/politica/2020-05-19-covid-19-cimeirada-cplp-deve-realizar-se-em-julho-de-2021-em-luanda-secretario-executivo/>.
Google Scholar
Declaração Constitutiva da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa – CPLP, Lisboa, at <https://www.cplp.org/id-2595.aspx>, 15 November 2020.
Google Scholar
Duara P., “Between Empire and Nation: Settler Colonialism in Manchukuo”, in C. Elkins, S. Pedersen (eds.) Settler Colonialism in the Twentieth Century, Abingdon–New York 2005.
Google Scholar
“Entrevista: Secretário da Cultura da Guiné-Bissau quer crioulo guineense como língua oficial”, ONU News, at <https://news.un.org/pt/story/2020/02/1705191>.
Google Scholar
Estatutos da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (com revisões de São Tomé/2001, Brasília/2002, Luanda/2005, Bissau/2006 e Lisboa/2007), Lisboa, at <http://www.cplp.org/Files/Filer/Documentos%20Essenciais/Estatutos_CPLP_REVLIS07.pdf>.
Google Scholar
Fasselt R., “Towards a ‘New Africanity’: Southern Connectivities and Lusofonia in Imraan Coovadia’s Alternate History in The Institute for Taxi Poetry”, Current Writing: Texts and Reception in Southern Africa, vol. 28, no. 1 (2016), https://doi.org/10.1080/1013929X.2016.1170502.
Google Scholar
Filho M., “Portugal quer liberdade de circulação e residência entre países lusófonos: Brasil enxerga ideia com cautela”, BBC News Brasil, at <https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/noticias/2015/12/151217_portugal_circulacao_paises_rm.
Google Scholar
Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (MACAO Forum), BRICS Policy Center/ Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas BRICS, at <https://bricspolicycenter.org/en/forum-for-economic-and-trade-cooperation-between-china-and-portuguese-speaking-countries-macau-forum/>.
Google Scholar
“Fórum PALOP foi criado em Angola”, RFI, at <https://www.rfi.fr/pt/africa/20140630-forum-palop-foi-criado-em-angola>.
Google Scholar
“Futura presidência angolana vai dar impulso ao pilar económico da CPLP, diz secretário-executivo”, RTP Notícias, at <https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/economia/futura-presidencia-angolana-vai-dar-impulso-ao-pilar-economico-da-cplp-diz-secretario-executivo_n1195195>.
Google Scholar
Garlińska-Bielawska J., Regionalna integracja gospodarcza w Afryce w świetle teorii i doświadczeń państw afrykańskich, Kraków 2019.
Google Scholar
Gómez J., “La Xunta facilita la presencia de España en la comunidad lusófona internacional”, La Voz de Galicia, at <https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/cultura/2020/02/02/xunta-facilita-presencia-espana-comunidad-lusofona-internacional/0003_202002G2P37991.htm>.
Google Scholar
“Governo aberto para debater elevação do crioulo a língua oficial em Cabo Verde”, Observador, at <https://observador.pt/2020/02/06/governo-aberto-para-debater-elevacao-do-crioulo-a-lingua-oficial-em-cabo-verde/>.
Google Scholar
“Guiné 63/74 – P12970: Os Nossos Cartazes de Propaganda (2): Parte II (Fernando Hipólito): O Portugal pluricontinental e plurirracial”, Luís Graça e Camaradas da Guiné – blogue coletivo, at <https://blogueforanadaevaotres.blogspot.com/2014/04/guine-6374-p12970-osnossos-cartazes-de.html>.
Google Scholar
“Guinea-Bissau Accuses Portugal of Coup Bid”, Al Jazeera, at <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/10/22/guinea-bissau-accuses-portugal-of-coup-bid>.
Google Scholar
“Guinée-Bissau”, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, at <https://www.francophonie.org/guinee-bissau-959>.
Google Scholar
Hall S., “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”, in J. Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, London 1990.
Google Scholar
Henriques J.G., Racismo em Português. O Lado Esquecido do Colonialismo, Lisboa 2016.
Google Scholar
Hewitt W.E., Burges S., Gomes I., “The Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa at 20 Years: An Impact Assessment”, South African Journal of International Affairs, vol. 24, no. 3 (2017), https://doi.org/10.1080/10220461.2017.1381040.
Google Scholar
“Histórico – Como surgiu?”, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, at <https://www.cplp.org/id-2752.aspx>.
Google Scholar
Intumbo I., “Gwinejska Wieża Babel”, transl. by W. Orlińska, Zupełnie inny świat, vol. 38, no. 1 (2020).
Google Scholar
Kłosowicz R., Konteksty dysfunkcyjności państw Afryki Subsaharyjskiej, Kraków 2017.
Google Scholar
Kłosowicz R., Państwa dysfunkcyjne w Afryce Subsaharyjskiej, in R. Kłosowicz (ed.), Państwa dysfunkcyjne i międzynarodowe wysiłki zmierzające do ich naprawy, Kraków 2014.
Google Scholar
Kozloff N., “Is Brazil the Inheritor of the Portuguese Empire in Africa?”, Al Jazeera, at <https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2012/9/30/is-brazil-the-inheritor-of-the-portugueseempire-in-africa/>.
Google Scholar
“Lusophone”, Cambridge Dictionary, at <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lusophone>.
Google Scholar
MacQueen N., “A Community of Illusions? Portugal, the CPLP and Peacemaking in Guiné-Bissau”, International Peacekeeping, vol. 10, no. 2 (2003), https://doi.org/10.1080/714002450.
Google Scholar
MacQueen N., “Re-defining the ‘African Vocation’: Portugal’s Post-Colonial Identity Crisis”, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, vol. 11, no. 2 (2003), https://doi.org/10.1080/1460846032000164618.
Google Scholar
Mania A., Grabowski M., Mormul J., “Regionalizm w Afryce, Azji i na Bliskim Wschodzie”, in Eidem (eds.), Problemy regionalne Azji, Afryki i Bliskiego Wschodu u progu XXI wieku, Warszawa 2018.
Google Scholar
Martins V., “The Armies of Common Language: CPLP’s Felino Exercises”, IPRIS Lusophone Countries Bulletin, vol. 17 (2011), at <http://www.ipris.org/?page=pub&id=Z>.
Google Scholar
Masson P., Pattillo C., “Monetary Union in West Africa (ECOWAS). Is It Desirable and How Could It Be Achieved?”, International Monetary Fund, Occasional Paper no. 204 (2001), at <https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/op/204/>.
Google Scholar
Mendy P.K., “Portugal’s Civilizing Mission in Colonial Guinea-Bissau: Rhetoric and Reality”, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 36, no. 1 (2003), https://doi.org/10.2307/3559318.
Google Scholar
Meneses M.P.G., “O ‘indígena’ africano e o colono ‘europeu’: a construção da diferença por processos legais”, Identidades, cidadanias e Estado, no. 7 (2010), e-cadernos CES, at <https://www.ces.uc.pt/myces/UserFiles/livros/693_04%2520-%2520Paula%2520Meneses%252023_06.pdf>.
Google Scholar
Minter W., Portuguese Africa and the West, London–New York 1973.
Google Scholar
“Mobilidade vai aprofundar sentimento de comunidade na CPLP, diz chefe da diplomacia brasileira”, RTP Notícias, at <https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/mundo/mobilidade-vai-aprofundar-sentimento-de-comunidade-na-cplp-diz-chefe-da-diplomacia-brasileira_n1191823>.
Google Scholar
Moreira S., “Cabo Verde: O Crioulo no Dia da Língua Portuguesa”, Global Voices, at <https://pt.globalvoices.org/2011/05/05/cabo-verde-o-crioulo-no-dia-da-lingua-portuguesa/>.
Google Scholar
Mormul J., “Historyczno-polityczne uwarunkowania kryzysów państwowości w Gwinei Bissau”, Afryka, vol. 46 (2017).
Google Scholar
Mormul J., “Portuguese Colonial Legacy in Luso-African States – a Factor Leading to State Dysfunctionality or Favorable to Development?”, Politeja. The Journal of the Faculty of International Relations and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University, vol. 56, no. 5 (2018), https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.15.2018.56.04.
Google Scholar
“O ensino do português na Guiné-Equatorial”, Observatório da Língua Portuguesa, at <http://observalinguaportuguesa.org/o-ensino-de-portugues-na-guine-equatorial/>.
Google Scholar
“Observadores Associados”, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, at <https://www.cplp.org/id-2765.aspx>.
Google Scholar
“Observadores Consultivos”, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, at <https://www.cplp.org/id-2766.aspx>.
Google Scholar
Patel S., Chambo G., Tembe F.F., Bilingual Education in Mozambique: Nowadays Situation, 2008, at <http://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/Legacy/sitefiles/file/46/10824/mozambiquepresentation.pdf>.
Google Scholar
Peters C., “The Cultural Politics of Luso-African Identity: A Look on 7th São Tomé Biennial”, Critical Interventions. Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture, vol. 10, no. 3 (2016), https://doi.org/10.1080/19301944.2016.1227217.
Google Scholar
Pinto J.F., “Da CPLP à Comunidade Lusófona: o futuro da lusofonia”, Revista Angolana de Sociologia, no. 7 (2011), https://doi.org/10.4000/ras.1212.
Google Scholar
Queiroz A., “Africa To Have Majority of Portuguese Speakers by Century’s End”, Agência Brasil, at <https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en/internacional/noticia/2019-10/africa-havemajority-portuguese-speakers-centurys-end>.
Google Scholar
Queiroz M., “Oil Lubricates Equatorial Guinea’s Entry into Portuguese Language Community”, Inter Press Service, at <http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/07/oil-lubricates-equatorialguineas-entry-into-portuguese-language-community/>.
Google Scholar
Reis B.C., Oliveira P.A., “The Power and Limits of Cultural Myths in Portugal’s Search for a Post-Imperial Role”, The International History Review, vol. 40, no. 3 (2018), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2016.1253599.
Google Scholar
“Resultados definitivos do recenseamento geral da população e da habitação de Angola 2014”, Instituto Nacional de Estatística de Angola, Governo de Angola, at <http://www.embajadadeangola.com/pdf/Publicacao%20Resultados%20Definitivos%20Censo%20Geral%202014_Versao%2022032016_DEFINITIVA%2018H17.pdf>.
Google Scholar
Ribeiro N., “Cavaco compara Guiné Equatorial com a Coreia do Norte”, Público, at <https://www.publico.pt/2014/07/23/politica/noticia/cavaco-compara-guine-equatorial-com-acoreia-do-norte-1664006>.
Google Scholar
Rzewuski E., Lipszyc M., “Pięć rozwiedzionych żon poligamisty”, Literatura na Świecie, vol. 490-491, no. 5-6 (2012).
Google Scholar
“Schengen Agreement Limits Mobility in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries”, Macau Hub, at <https://macauhub.com.mo/2019/06/13/pt-acordo-de-schengen-condiciona-mobilidade-na-comunidade-dos-paises-de-lingua-portuguesa/>.
Google Scholar
Sousa Santos B. de, “Between Prospero and Caliban: Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and Interidentity”, Luso-Brazilian Review, vol. 39, no. 2 (2002).
Google Scholar
Ścigaj P., Tożsamość narodowa. Zarys problematyki, Kraków 2012.
Google Scholar
The Commonwealth, at <https://thecommonwealth.org>, 1 December 2020.
Google Scholar
Wasserman H., “Postcolonial Cultural Identity in Recent Afrikaans Literary Texts”, Journal of Literary Studies, vol. 16, no. 3-4 (2000), https://doi.org/10.1080/02564710008530267.
Google Scholar
“What are the top 200 most spoken languages?”, Ethnologue. Languages of the World, at <https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/ethnologue200>.
Google Scholar
“Zimbabwe Applies to Rejoin Commonwealth”, Al Jazeera, at <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/5/22/zimbabwe-applies-to-rejoin-commonwealth>.
Google Scholar
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Funding data
-
Narodowe Centrum Nauki
Grant numbers DEC-2013/11/N/HS5/04220