Lusophony or the Haunted Logic of Lusophony is a neo-colonial concept that only emerges once the Empire is irrevocably dissolved. Whereas Lusophony cannot escape its neo-colonial entanglements, Lusotopy, on the contrary, strives precisely not only to go beyond, but against them.
Focusing on Lusotopy one can hope to work towards constructing a different future that builds on all the riches and all the wounds, many not yet healed, of the intersections derived from Portuguese colonialism. Walter Benjamin. It is never too much to insist on the crucial distinction between Lusophony and Lusotopy.
Whereas Lusophony cannot escape its neocolonial entanglements, Lusotopy, on the contrary, strives precisely not only to go beyond, but against them. Besides the obvious investment of the CPLP, Lusophony has also been debated by academics, artists, writers, politicians and there have been numerous published essays, as well as conferences dedicated to the topic.
Novos Mitos Portugueses in More recently, a number of detailed and varied essays have significantly enlarged the debate and, it would seem, have dealt with it, exposing many of the problems associated with the concept and the very term, while still recognizing the ambition of bringing the various literatures written in Portuguese in closer contact. Promessa e Travessia Martins His introduction is very valuable to trace the development of the concept and various uses to which it has been put.
Although fully aware of the common traps associated with the concept, Martins still maintains a very positive attitude to it. But, not only has Lusophony by now become a sort of cottage industry of its own, there are still those whose desire for the dream of another form of transnational community as dangled by the idea of Lusophony is just too tempting. And so even when it would seem that nothing more could be added to the debate to make absolutely clear how problematic the notion of Lusophony is, a renewed attempt at exposing the many fallacies of Lusophony is still called for, as it probably will repeatedly keep being called for in the foreseeable future.
