Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Publications on Utopia in Portugal (2016 and the First Semester of 2017)

2017; Penn State University Press; Volume: 28; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5325/utopianstudies.28.3.0600

2154-9648

Fátima Vieira,

Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism

If I were to review only the books written in Portuguese and published during 2016 and the first semester of 2017 in Portugal, this would no doubt be a very short article. In fact, the National Library of Portugal only displays thirteen entries from a search for utopia in the title, keyword, or subject; and once we exclude fiction, translations, reeditions, and books that, although they use utopia in the title, are not relevant to the field of utopian studies, we are left with just four references.The situation is no doubt surprising given the fact that utopian studies is well established in the Portuguese academy and that a number of events were held across the country to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the publication of Thomas More's Utopia. In my view, there are two explanations for this: first, the fact that Portuguese academics have been increasingly encouraged (to use a euphemism) to publish internationally in English in peer-reviewed journals or to write book chapters for prestigious British and American publishing houses; second, the fact that the search engine of the National Library is not the right tool to measure academic interest in the topic. We need in fact to resort to the Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Open-Access Scientific Repository of Portugal) to have an idea of the importance of utopian thinking in the Portuguese academy, and once we access it, we find not only many articles published in journals—ranging from topics such as utopia and film to utopia and international politics, from urban planning to readings of Huxley and Houellebecq—but also a significant number of academic works: twenty-six M.A. theses and four doctoral dissertations. Although these academic works have not been published by a publishing house, they are available for open access in the repositories of Portuguese universities. For this survey of publications on utopia in Portugal in 2016 and the first semester of 2017, I will take into consideration not only the four books previously mentioned but also the theses and dissertations that most directly contribute to the field of utopian studies.Although they all use utopia in the title and somehow contribute to a theorization of the concept, the four books published in Portugal in the period under consideration could not be more disparate. In Jogos Olímpicos sob o signo da utopia (The Olympic Games Under the Banner of Utopia, 2016), Rui Proença Garcia and António Camilo Cunha show that the significance of the Olympic Games far surpasses their sporting interest. By minutely detailing the economic, social, and mediatic impact of the games, as well as a number of issues that need to be addressed—such as environmental and mobility issues—the authors demonstrate that the cities where the games are held are completely changed when they end. The book is worth reading—and relevant for the field of utopian studies—because of the unexpected triple leap the authors perform, reflecting on (1) the concept of utopia, (2) Portuguese utopian literature, and (3) Jesuit reductions in Latin America. Indeed, only by performing such a leap would Garcia and Cunha be able to reach the conclusion they want to propose.The definition of utopia as the aspiration to an ideal society in its functioning and governance, the idyllic visions of perfect islands found in the literary imaginations of Raul Brandão and Vitorino Nemésio, and the heterotopic spaces of the Jesuit reductions all provide the authors with the basis for the conclusion that the Olympic Games demand a utopian city—the Olympic Village. Justice, identity, and hosting the Other are the key aspects to understanding the utopian spirit that presides over the games. The book goes on to explore the problems of living in a community that we can find in any utopia, including Thomas More's, where the existence of a prison shows that there is crime even in an ideal state. Although the exercise of describing the Olympic Village as a utopia is an interesting one—the Olympic spirit, as Garcia and Cunha argue, entails fraternity within competition—the authors sometimes go too far in the comparisons they make to substantiate the use of utopia in the title. An example of this is the investment the authors make in describing the Jogos da Lusofonia (Games of the Portuguese-Speaking Countries) in light of the myth of the Fifth Monarchy, arguing that the games aim to realize the Fifth Empire—the concept of a global Portuguese Empire. The book ends with the proposal of a path that needs to be trodden, from immanence to transcendence, highlighting the important role the Olympic Games may play for that purpose.A Esperança, Utopia Impossível: Da insatisfação como via do (que podemos) conhecer, esperar e devir (Hope, an Impossible Utopia: Of Dissatisfaction as a Way of What [We Can] Know, Hope, and Become, 2017), by Sebastião J. Formosinho and J. Oliveira Branco, is an unexpected book for someone who is doing utopian studies. The book is penned by two prominent names from the Portuguese academy. Sebastião J. Formosinho was the secretary of state for higher education in 1980 and 1981; a full professor at the University of Coimbra, Department of Chemistry, he published extensively on photochemistry, chemical kinetics, and the production of solar energy. On the other hand, J. Oliveira Branco is a priest; with a Ph.D. in philosophy, he taught at the Instituto Superior de Estudos Teológicos (Higher Institute of Theological Studies) in Coimbra. Together, Formosinho and Oliveira Branco had already written three books: O Brotar da Criação: Um Olhar Dinâmico pela Ciência, a Filosofia e a Teologia (The Sprouting of Creation: A Dynamic Look Through Science, Philosophy, and Theology, 1997), A Pergunta de Job: O Homem e o Mistério do Mal (Job's Question: Man and the Mystery of Evil, 2003), and O Deus Que Não Temos: Uma História de Grandes Intuições e Mal-entendidos (The God We Have Not: A History of Big Intuitions and Misunderstandings, 2008). Although Formosinho's contribution to the titles above was supposed to be that of a scientist—and he does contribute with scientific arguments—it is the Catholic perspective that wins in the end. Hope, an Impossible Utopia, the book that completes the tetralogy the two authors had planned to publish, deals in fact with Christian hope. It starts by examining the phenomenon of dissatisfaction and its capacity for being an instigator of change; but dissatisfaction—both social and cultural—calls for constructive utopias. The authors argue for the idea that the quality of these utopias is relevant for ensuring a sustainable future. The book is aimed at readers who believe in a Hope written with a capital H, which is very distant from secular hope; in the end, in spite of the scientific and philosophical interrogations, this Hope stands for Christianity, its world vision and its values.In A Representação do Espaço em Saramago: Da Negatividade à Utopia (The Representation of Space in Saramago: From Negativity to Utopia, 2017), Horácio Ruivo looks at five novels by Portuguese Nobel Prize–winner José Saramago to analyze the way space is portrayed and how it impacts the characters. Examining space from a variety of perspectives—physical space and symbolic space but also taking into account the space of memory, which turns out to be important for the formation of individual and collective memories—the author shows that spaces are normally depicted negatively in Saramago's work and that characters are, in an initial stage, contaminated by that negative charge. However, Ruivo argues, these spaces of negativity are also spaces of awareness that enable the characters to understand the chaos of their lives and prompt them to look for another space—a utopian space where living is possible. This book no doubt testifies to the way utopian studies may benefit from the use of tools and methods of analysis pertinent to spatiality studies.The fourth and last book on the list is no doubt the most significant Portuguese contribution to the field of utopian studies. Although Utopia Dystopia: A Paradigm Shift in Art and Architecture (2017), edited by Pedro Gadanho, João Laia, and Susana Ventura, possesses an English title, the book in fact offers a bilingual edition (English and Portuguese). It is presented as a companion to the curatorial project (a “manifesto-exhibition,” as it was then presented) of the same name and created by the three editors. The exhibition was on public display from March 21 to August 14 at Lisbon's new Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology. However, as the editors point out, the volume is not to be seen as an exhibition catalog but, rather, as a reader with unpublished material that reflects on matters arising from the exhibition.This was the second exhibit presented at the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology; the iconic building by the River Tejo designed by Amanda Levete opened its doors on October 5, 2016. The first exhibition on display, UTOPIA/DYSTOPIA—PART 1: PYNCHON PARK (October 2, 2016–February 6, 2017), was, in fact, a large-scale installation combining sculpture, sound, light, and performance by the French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, curated by Pedro Gadanho. The artist presented Pynchon Park as an enclosure where aliens would be able to observe human behavior in optimal conditions. Visitors were to stay in the enclosed space, experiencing the intriguing ludic situation of being observed as the Other. A booklet was then published to accompany this exhibition: Pynchon Park: Utopia-Dystopia, with texts by the curator and the artist. A leaflet with educational activities for children under five was also then made available.The concepts of utopia and dystopia were undoubtedly made more comprehensible to the public through the second exhibition, as the curation succeeded in stimulating visitors' reflections on topics such as technology and human enhancement while looking at more than sixty artworks and projects created since the early 1970s. The exhibit had a pedagogical side that is to be praised: no visitor would leave the museum without understanding that Thomas More's utopian spirit was being celebrated, that the idea of ideal cities has obsessed Western societies for a long time, and that as time went by the dichotomy of utopia/dystopia became more evident, the latter becoming more prominent in recent decades. The volume edited by Gadanho, Laia, and Ventura displays texts by the curators but also by Franco Berardi, Rosi Braidotti, Keller Easterling, and Antoine Picon, dealing with a variety of aspects concerning the ideas under consideration, from theoretical reflections on the concepts of utopia and dystopia to the application of the terms to art, architecture, and sustainability.Two texts stand out for their contribution to the field of utopian studies: “Utopia/Dystopia: A Brief History of an Uncomfortable Duality,” by Pedro Gadanho, and “The Imaginable as Post-utopian Goal: On the Necessity of Redefining the Concept of Utopia,” by João Laia. In his text, Gadanho offers an informed overview of the evolution of the concepts of utopia and dystopia, revealing how the latter grew out of a negation of utopia and showing that art and architecture have resorted to fiction in recent decades to build dystopian scenarios that have turned out to be a powerful means for conveying a critique of contemporary times. In the end, Gadanho concludes, the imagination of alternatives is still a workable method but is now placed in the realm of dystopia. This blurring of the traditional boundaries between utopia and dystopia may cause unease, but Gadanho claims that one should focus on the impact it has on society. Arguing that although dystopia has unfortunately become a common term, the author stands for the idea that dystopia has been asserted, especially in the field of the arts, as a working methodology for critiquing the dystopian world we live in; paradoxically, by fostering the idea that a change is needed, dystopia has been an important device for the rehabilitation of utopia.The text by João Laia also offers a reflection on the concepts under consideration, adding to the discussion of the idea of postutopia as defined by Fredric Jameson. Laia contextualizes his reflection by offering a picture of contemporary societies, enhancing how the rhizomatic structure of the Internet fostered the establishment of a globalized economic system, how nationalist populist discourses spread out all over the world, and how the Internet has allowed undemocratic states to restrict the liberty of their citizens. The author then examines the concept of “daily utopias” as defined by Davina Cooper, denouncing the effectiveness of small-scale experiments and solutions for achieving global change. Relying on Jacques Rancière's, Liam Gillick's, and Fredric Jameson's descriptions of the way utopian imagination became imprisoned by postmodern discourse, Laia argues for the need for a utopian imagination that, as Jameson has suggested, does not emerge from the present but, rather, asserts itself as pure imagination. According to Laia, only this method whereby utopian proposals do not seek to be related to practical solutions will successfully lead us to envisioning different systemic possibilities for the organization of our societies. Postutopian thinking, the author concludes, may paradoxically eventually perform a true utopian function.Although the Ph.D. dissertations and M.A. theses dealing with the concept of utopia that were presented at Portuguese universities in 2016 and the first semester of 2017 were written in Portuguese, they all included an abstract in English. This may be useful for readers interested in finding more information on the research projects. The pertinent URL for each piece is provided after the full reference of the work, at the end of this review article.Since abstracts are available for public consultation, it is not the aim of this study to fully describe the pieces but, rather, to assess the way Portuguese scholars are using the concept of utopia through their work supervising graduate students. It should be noted that the list of dissertations probably grew in the second semester of 2017, since it is common practice, in most Portuguese universities, to have the discussion of these projects at the end of each academic year.The four Ph.D. dissertations that were discussed in the period under consideration testify to the variety of approaches to utopian thinking. “A Educação dos Neocolonizadores: A escola colonial e a investigação do Ultramar no Império Português (sécs. XIX e XX)” (The Education of the Neocolonizers: The Colonial School and Research Overseas in the Portuguese Empire [Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries], 2016), a dissertation presented by Carlos Pires in the field of history of education, examines the way colonial science was developed in close articulation with the Society of Geography and the Technical University in Lisbon and how it contributed to the reinforcement of Portuguese oppressive power over colonized populations. In its turn, “O Ideal do Príncipe e a Cidade Ideal: Reflexões sobre o mundo antigo em diálogo com os ‘FVNDAMENTA’ da construção de Brasília” (The Ideal of the Prince and the Ideal City: Reflections on the Ancient World in Dialogue with the “Fundamenta” of the Construction of Brasilia, 2016), presented by Tiago Carvalho to obtain a doctorate in classical studies, examines treaties on the education of princes from antiquity to the Renaissance. Arguing that an ideal prince calls for an ideal city, Carvalho invests in an analysis of the capital of Brazil in light of these concepts.“Arquitetura e Autonomia: Experimentação na periurbanidade” (Architecture and Autonomy: An Experiment in Peri-urbanity, 2016), by António Coxito, examines the possibilities of autonomy and autarchy in architecture. Based on the articulation between the concepts of autonomy and utopia, the author invested in an action-research project, building real architectural structures aimed at being self-sufficient, and looked at several case studies, including Tamera, a sustainable village in the south of Portugal, and seasonal events such as the Boom Festival, among others. Finally, “O Estabelecimento de um Governo Mundial no Respeito pelos Direitos Humanos” (The Establishment of a World Government in Respect for Human Rights, 2016), presented by Isabel Miranda to obtain a doctorate in juridical and political theory and international relations, argues that the process of globalization in the construction of universal human rights will eventually bring about a new world order, although this idea may be thought of now as utopian.The M.A. theses taken into consideration for this study (twenty, in total, as six of them were excluded, since their relation to utopia was not substantiated by a credible reflection on the concept) are divided into five groups at the end of this review article. In the first group fall works on education and the construction of an inclusive society. These include reflections on education in specific areas but also on students with special needs, with a special focus on how teachers, social workers, and parents' associations may contribute to making schools more cohesive, offering an exciting environment for those who have to face learning and physical disabilities. The second group brings together research projects in fields of the arts: painting (the concept of “Nowhere”), music (Beethoven's “Ninth Symphony,” an anthem for Europe), and cinema (committed visions of society promoted by documentary films). The third group includes research projects in the field of architecture and urban planning, examining topics as disparate as street markets (as examples of “practical utopias”), architectural micro-interventions in European contemporary public spaces, the concept of the “global city,” architectural utopias in modern Africa, case studies (the architectural drawings of Bruno Taut and Raimund Abraham), and even the challenges of urban mobility. The fourth group includes case studies pertinent to Portuguese culture that may be of interest to foreign scholars, as they are not widely known: the case of the construction of the town of Santo André, in the 1970s, built from scratch and benefiting from the work of almost all the important Portuguese architects of the time—conceived for one hundred thousand inhabitants, it never outgrew sixteen thousand; the case of the Bairro do Pessoal da Empresa de Cimento de Leiria (the Residential Quarter of the Staff of the Cement Company of Leiria), which substantiated Henrique de Araújo de Sommer's progressive utopian ideas to provide good housing and social living; the case of Lusophony, the project for unifying Portuguese-speaking nations, reminiscent of the myth of the Fifth Empire, which is being opposed by former colonies that see it as an ethnocentric and neocolonialist project; and the case of messianic thought associated with the idea that King Sebastian will eventually come back to preside over the Portuguese Fifth Empire, which was embedded in the popular traditions and the literature of the Portuguese island of Madeira in the first decades of the twentieth century. The last group is a miscellaneous group, gathering a reflection on the social responsibility of companies in Portugal, with a special focus on small and medium-size companies, and a thesis on the history of civil disobedience, focusing on a variety of prominent names who were inspired by the utopian dream of changing society, from Henry David Thoreau and the Suffragettes to more recent cases such as Anonymous and Malala Yousafzai.Surprisingly, none of the books reviewed or the theses and dissertations presented in 2016/early 2017 at Portuguese universities deal with Thomas More's Utopia. Likewise, no philosophical reflections on the concept of utopia or dystopia seem to interest young researchers, although the book edited by Pedro Gadanho, João Laia, and Susana Ventura as a companion to the Utopia/Dystopia exhibition at the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology does represent a good contribution from Portugal to the theorization of such concepts.The overview of the academic research offered above shows that in most research projects the concept of utopia is synonymous with an ideal that many people think to be unrealizable. Quite unexpectedly, there were no academic projects on literary utopias, but by contrast, utopia proved to continue to be a useful tool for reflecting on the role of the arts, architecture, and urban planning.In spite of the nonexistence of many books launched by publishing houses, the significant number of theses and dissertations presented and discussed at Portuguese universities (one should not forget that Portugal is a small country, with only eleven million inhabitants and thirteen public universities) in the period under consideration testify to an interest in the topic of utopia for a variety of fields; additionally, the works discussed here bring to light utopian experiments that were performed in Portugal and that still call to be considered within the framework of similar international experiments. It is hoped that this review article will contribute to fostering the interest of foreign researchers in these topics.