The mobilization of the ‘Lusophony’ concept : the case of RTP International channels

Abstract

This article discusses the role Portuguese television international channels (RTP Internacional and RTP África) have played in the reconfiguration of an highly dispersed multi-continental cultural area – the Lusophone Space (Brazil Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, S. Tomé and Príncipe, East-Timor). According to some authors (e.g. Lourenço, 1993; Baptista 2000), this post-colonial reconstruct fulfils an imaginary space of imperial nostalgia so the Portuguese can fell less isolated and more visible in the world. Eventually, it could be a term to abandon. Martins believes however that Lusophony is a territory of cultural archetypes, a mythic basis which nourishes collective dreams (2004). If myth is a discursive phenomenon and if language defines reality, it might be argued that Lusophony is fundamentally an operational classification which has practical functions and it is designed to produce social effects. In this paper we will try to demonstrate that political actors, from different party affiliations, assumed that - through the daily representation of a Lusophone linguistic and cultural area, RTP International and RTP África would play a significant role in the recognition of this cultural area and would contribute to the formal constitution and further development of a Lusophone Community. Though it is still early to assess the full relevance of RTP (Portuguese public service television operator) international channels to the political process which led to the formal foundation of the Portuguese Language Countries Community (CPLP, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa) in 1996, we are convinced that attention should be given to these international channels.