Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

2001; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/port.2001.0003

2222-4270

Helder Macedo,

Historical Education and Society

INTRODUCTORY NOTE Thisvolume ofPortuguese Studies isa homage toCharles Boxer, whodiedin April2OOO at theageofninety-six. Ourfocusis notbiographical: a recent, massive biography byDaurilAlden, Charles R. Boxer:AnUncommon Man, provides a detailed account ofthelife ofthisremarkable soldier andscholar, whocouldhavestepped straight outofthesixteenth century. Little wonder that Boxerfound Portugal's GoldenAgesocongenial. Itwasa time when'the swordinonehandandthepenintheother', as Camõesputit,wasa model andanideal,andCharles Boxercertainly deserves tobeincluded intheranks ofthis nobletradition. Aptly enough, theChairtowhich Charles Boxerwasappointed in1947andwhich heheld,witha brief interruption, until1967- wasnamedafter Camões.Boxerwas thethird CamoensProfessor of Portuguese at King's College London. Thefirst, appointed in1919, wasa specialist inthehistory of theOttoman Empire, Portugal's imperial foe.Anaccidental irony, I'msure. TheChairwasconsolidated during thelonganddistinguished tenure ofEdgar Prestage, a scholar deeply committed toallthings Portuguese. During Boxer's tenure King'sCollegeLondonbecamethemostimportant centre forLusophonehistorical studies intheUnited Kingdom, with a reputation extending throughout thescholarly world. Portuguese literature wasnotneglected, however, forBoxerknewhowto choosehiscollaborators. One of them, RubenAndresen Leitão- Ruben A.- wasan avant-garde Portuguese writer. Another, LuísdeSousaRebelo, whotaught atKing'sforoverforty years, wasa charismatic teacher andisa major literary scholar. Boxerhimself was farfromuninterested in literature. In fact,he was thoroughly familiar with thePortuguese canon.Hisperspective, however, was that ofanhistorian andI havea sneaking suspicion that hereadpoetry mainly as documentary evidence ofhistorical trends. Andsometimes hewasalsothe stiff-upper-lip military manwhen itcametoliterary appreciation. When I told himthat I waswriting a dissertation onBernardim Ribeiro's Meninae Moça, heapproved thechoiceofhistorical period- hissixteenth century - but rather dismissed theauthor ofthatpastoralmasterpiece as 'umchorão',a moaner, a cry baby. ItwasBoxer, however, whosuggested that after hisretirement theCamoens Chairshouldbedevoted toliterature rather thanhistory. Thiswasachieved withtheappointment of Stephen Reckert, underwhoseforward-looking headship thescopeoftheDepartment wasbroadened toencompass Brazilian studies anda special subject inAfrican literature. WhenI was appointedto the CamoensChair in 1982,havingbeen encouraged inmyacademic career bothbyBoxerandReckert, I feltthatI shouldendeavour to developthetwo traditions theyrepresented - the historical andtheliterary - intheir pluricontinental Lusophone dimension. Thislongandarduous process ofexpansion ata time ofrecession forUnited Kingdom universities wasmadepossible notonly byanenhanced commitment onthepart oftheCollege toitsunique Portuguese Department butalsobythe generous support oftheCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation andthePortuguese Government. Itculminated with thecreation ofa newChairofhistory named after Britain's most distinguished historian ofPortugal. I amparticularly gladthat hewasstill alivewhentheCharles BoxerChair ofHistory was established. The pleasure heexpressed on beingtoldofthis honour reflects ourownpleasure inhaving honoured himinthis way.Malyn Newitt isthefirst Charles BoxerProfessor ofHistory. Inplanning this volume ofPortuguese Studies asa posthumous homage toCharles Boxer, I felt that we werecelebrating hiscontinued presence at King'sand theDepartment he headed. Allthefull-time academic members oftheDepartment were invited to contribute, andall buttwowereabletorespond. Givenconstraints ofspace andthenature ofthejournal, however, I hadtolimit theother contributions to thosebyscholars whoseworking languageis English and whoseown research fallswithin oneofthemany historical fields inwhich Boxerleft his mark.Someofthesecontributors werealso hisfriends, somehisdisciples, somehad never methim,butall wishedto be partofthishomage, which focuses notonarticles abouthimorhisworkbutontheliving evidence ofthe continuing relevance ofhishistorical interests. Thisvolume includes an updated version oftheimpressive Charles Boxer bibliography published byTamesisPress,withadditional contributions by J.S. Cummins. Asalways, Portuguese Studies hasbenefited from thegenerous support oftheCalousteGulbenkian Foundation inLisbonandtheCamões Institute. Thisspecialissuehashadtheadditional support oftheComissão paraas Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses. Specialthanks are duetotheindividuals whomadethisinstitutional support possible: DrJosé Blanco, Professor Jorge CoutoandProfessor Joaquim Romero deMagalhães. Helder Macedo Camoens Professor ofPortuguese King'sCollege London Published with thesupport of: ...