A Casa do Estudante do Império (CEI) e a poesia nas lutas anticoloniais (1944 – 1965)

Abstract

In view of the historiographical discussions, based on the New Political and Cultural History, about the contributions of literature as a source for aid in the construction of the history of certain societies, the present study aims to present the Home of the Students of the Empire (CEI) (1944-1965) and the poetry notebooks, until then condensed in the collection "Autores Ultramarinos", produced within the association, as spaces of information, resistance, awareness and hope before the cultural, economic and political fractures driven by the presence of the colonizer, especially in Lusophone Africa. Thereby, we seek to know, analyze and historicize the Home of the Students of the Empire, as well as the profile of its members, identifying in the literary productions contained in the collection the main criticisms to colonial actions, discussions about an identity, revaluation of cultural aspects of possessions and notes related to the desire to disengage from the Portuguese domain. Thus, the study was done through the reading and analysis of documents produced within the institution, available in the digital collection of Mário Soares Foundation (FMS), Union of Capital Cities of Portuguese Language (UCCLA) and bibliographical references, among theses, dissertations, articles and books that contribute to the discussion of the importance of Portuguese-language African literary productions as a space to generate new visions about the internal conflicts and subsequently the history of these countries during the second half of the 20th century.Therefore, the present study seeks to contribute to the elaboration of a contrasting mosaic to the discourses disseminated by the colonizer, which are still present in a certain way in many spheres of knowledge related to the African continent.