The Postcolonial across Borders: Interdisciplinary Research and Practices of Resistance

On the occasion of the congress there will be a meeting between students from Portugal and Germany, especially from Lisbon, Coimbra and Chemnitz. The main purpose of this meeting is to generate an exchange between students from different universities, courses of study as well as levels and activists, who are working from a common critical perspective: the postcolonial.

This meeting is part of a cooperation between the researchers Dr. des. Ana Troncoso from the University of Chemnitz and Dr. Elsa Peralta from the University of Lisbon, initiated in 2022 with the symposium Decolonial Iconoclasm: City - Memory - Participation. This meeting expands the cooperation with the participation of Prof. Dr. Doris Wieser and students from the University of Coimbra. 

The meeting is funded by the DAAD and the Camões Institute.

Four activities are planned to promote this exchange:

1. Poster Sessions

Students of the Bachelor course "Europäische Studien und Geschichtswissenschaften" European Studies and History of Chemnitz, participants of the seminar "Presseanalyse - Am Beispiel der Berichterstattung zu Portugals Nelkenrevolution im Neuen Deutschland", students of the master's degrees "Literatura de Língua Portuguesa" of the University of Coimbra participants of the seminar "Literaturas Africanas de Língua Portuguesa", and students of the PhD in Anthropology of the University of Lisbon will present the results of work done in different courses and their research questions from their doctoral research in the form of posters.

The Poster Sessions will take place during the conference, on Thursday, September 27, 5:30 – 6:30 PM.

The participants of the poster sessions are:

From Ana Troncoso Chemnitz's seminar „Presseanalyse – Am Beispiel der Berichterstattung zu Portugals Nelkenrevolution im Neuen Deutschland“:

Monique Scheuring

Isabel Fischer

Irena Ilic

From Doris Wieser Coimbra's seminar „Literaturas Africanas de Língua Portuguesa“:

Beatriz Castanheira

Inês Venâncio

Tiago Farias

Karla Vilela de Souza

Pedro Barros

Angelica Conni

Patrícia Bruno

From the Bachelor, Master and PhD in Anthropology of Lisbon, guided by Dr. Elsa Peralta:

Ana Aires e Castro

Danielle Duque Baracho

Scham Wang Xin

Ananda Ambrose

Eric Andrade

Lúcia Ramos

Adriana Quintas Duarte

Impressions from the Poster session here.

2. Round Table: Research and Activism from a Postcolonial Perspective

The round table is planned for thesis students and activists from Lisbon, Coimbra and Chemnitz, who will briefly present their research topics as well as the central themes and ways of working of their activism. The presentations will be followed by a moderated discussion with the audience, to answer general questions as well as to reflect on the scope and difficulties of positioned research.

This roundtable will take place on Wednesday, September 25, 2 - 4:30 PM.

The participants of the round table are:

Sandra Fischer (Chemnitz)

Agesiláu Silva de Carvalho (Chemnitz)

Felix Taboada (Chemnitz)

Kátia Nascimiento (Coimbra)

Mariacristina Migliore (Coimbra)

Yu Peilin (Coimbra)

Roque Suequel (Coimbra)

Estela Miranda Ferreira (Lisboa)

Leonor Rosas (Lisboa)

Impressions from the Round Table here.

3. Book Presentation

A Guerra Guardada | Fotografia de soldados portugueses em Angola, Guiné-Bissau e Moçambique, 1961-1974

A War Kept | Photography of portuguese soldiers in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique (1961-1974)

AAVV

Coord.. Maria José Lobo Antunes and Inês Ponte

Lisbon, Tinta da China.

Between 1961 and 1974, thousands of men conscripted to Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique took pictures of what surrounded them. Kept for themselves or sent by mail as proof of their distant lives, these images and the stories they conceal were kept in the narrow confines of their personal circles for years. Fifty years after the end of the conflict, this book, like the exhibition of the same name at the Aljube Museum that gave rise to it, draws on ethnographic research with ex-combatants and their photographic collections to explore the links between photography, memory and the history of the colonial war. Texts by researchers accompany the images and works by artists and composers who, in different ways, reflect on colonialism, war and the end of the Portuguese empire. 

This book emphasizes the need to cross perspectives, bridge disciplinary boundaries, and broaden the inquiry into the traumatic legacies of the colonial past. While colonial violence was particularly devastating to colonized peoples, it also left deep scars on the populations of colonizing nations, such as Portugal, where thousands of men were conscripted, many of whom died or returned, with deep physical and emotional scars that profoundly affected their families. By connecting seemingly disparate histories of colonial violence, we can create frameworks of memory that do justice to all victims and inform a more comprehensive political stance on the colonial past and its enduring legacy.

This Book Presentation will take place on Wednesday, September 25, 5 PM.

Link to the book: https://tintadachina.pt/produto/guerra_guardada/

Impressions from the Book presentation here.

4. A critical walk through the city

This walk is open to all participants of both the student exchange program and the conference.

The stations of the walk will be presented by Monique Scheuring and Luka Hirsekorn, students of Chemnitz.

The walk will take place after the conference, on Saturday, September 28, 4 PM. It starts at the "Theaterplatz"

Impressions from the Critical City Walk here.