Portuguese Literature, Hunting, and the African Natural Environment Under and After Colonialism

Tuesday, November 19th
White Gravenor 204
12:30 pm -1:45 pm

This talk explores the interconnections between animal hunting and the spread and fall of the African empire in Portuguese literature. Particular attention will be paid to literary depictions of the African natural environment under and after colonialism. The talk will show how narratives of hunting constitute a distinctive archive of texts, which lays bare the savagery of Portuguese imperialism from genocide to ecocide.

Dr. Isabel Ferreira Gould holds a Ph.D. in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies from Brown University. She is an independent scholar and a collaborating researcher at the University of Lisbon’s Centre for Comparative Studies. She has published articles in scholarly journals and edited volumes on topics such as family, intergenerational memory, genealogical consciousness, war, colonialism, post-colonialism, dictatorship, torture, trauma, travel, and the natural environment in literature.