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Project "New Portuguese Letters 40 Years Later"*
(PTDC/CLE-LLI/110473/2009)
*Translation:Marinela Freitas and Marta Correia; Revision: Anna M. Klobucka

This project aims to create a cross-cultural international network around the book New Portuguese Letters, published in 1972 by Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta and Maria Velho da Costa, by giving an account of the research conducted in Portugal and in several Western countries in the last 40 years about this pivotal work in Portuguese literature.

Banned in the 70s, the book was immediately translated in Europe and the United States, and it is still one of the most translated Portuguese works in the world. The scandal that surrounded the publication of New Portuguese Letters and the trial of the authors in the context of the dictatorial regime commonly known as 'New State' [Estado Novo], sparked an unprecedented wave of international support in the history of Portuguese literature. The protests and the demonstrations for the cause of the "Three Marias", as the process became known at the time, reached unimaginable proportions: from the coverage of the trial made by international media (The Times, Le Nouvel Observateur, etc.) to the feminist demonstrations staged in front of several Portuguese embassies abroad, as well as the public defense of the book and its authors carried out by renowned authors like Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras, Doris Lessing, Iris Murdoch and Steven Spender. All these facts contributed to the voting of this case as 'the first international feminist cause' at a conference sponsored by the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Addressing issues which remain relevant to today's political agenda, such as war and conflicts, violence, discrimination, feminization of poverty, (lack of) freedom, the colonization of the body politic and immigration, among many other issues, New Portuguese Letters continue to raise social awareness and to promote alternative understandings of a common humanity. As a literary object, New Portuguese Letters is also among the most innovative works of the twentieth century, dismantling and questioning conventional notions, such as those of authorship, authority and literary value. It should be noted that the book, consisting of 120 texts (including letters, poems, reports, narrative texts, essays and quotes), was written collaboratively by the three authors who, however, did not individually sign any of those texts.

The history of the publication and wide international reception of New Portuguese Letters is yet to be mapped, which is why this project intends to proceed with the study and the divulging of the book, thus continuing the former project "New Portuguese Letters 3 Decades Later" (PIHM/ELT/63706/2005), which resulted in the annotated edition of New Portuguese Letters, by Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta and Maria Velho da Costa, published by Dom Quixote in 2010.

Promoting the cross-culture research on the national and international reception of New Portuguese Letters, the current project, which has a large international team of researchers, will focus on publishing critical material about the book, trying to account for its innovative dimension as a literary object. This material will also approach the systematization of a) the genesis of New Portuguese Letters, in the historical, political, social and literary context of the New State ['Estado Novo']; b) its impact on Portuguese society after the 25th April revolution; c) its international reception in the following countries or geographical areas where the book was translated or widely read: Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, USA, France, The Netherlands, UK, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sweden, the African Portuguese-speaking countries and South-American Spanish-speaking countries.



TEAM

Overall Coordination of the Project
Ana Luísa Amaral (Univ. Porto; ILCML)

Core Research Team
- Adriana Bebiano (Univ. Coimbra; CES)
- Alexandra Moreira da Silva (Univ. Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3; ILCML)
- Ana Cristina Assis (Univ. Porto)
- Ana Gabriela Macedo (Univ. Minho; CEHUM)
- Ana Mafalda Leite (Univ. Lisboa)
- Ana Margarida Martins (Univ. Exeter)
- Ana Paula Tavares (Univ. Nova de Lisboa)
- Anna M. Klobucka (Univ. Massachusetts Dartmouth)
- Cacilda Lopes (Univ. Porto)
- Catherine Dumas (Univ. Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3; CREPAL)
- Chatarina Edfeldt (Univ. Dalarna)
- Deolinda Adão (Univ. California, Berkeley /San Jose State University)
- Elena Losada Soler (Univ. Barcelona)
- Fernanda Henriques (Univ. Évora)
- Hilary Owen (Univ. Manchester)
- Jessica Falconi (Univ. Napoli; CES/Univ. Coimbra)
- Jorge Fernandes da Silveira (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
- Livia Apa (Univ. Napoli)
- Luís Filipe Costa (Univ. Porto)
- Lurdes Gonçalves (ILCML/Univ. Porto)
- Maria Lúcia Dal Farra (CNPq; Univ. São Paulo)
- Marinela Freitas (ILCML/Univ. Porto)
- Marta Mascarenhas (Univ. Porto)
- Roberto Vecchi (Univ. Bologna)
- Teresa Martins de Oliveira (Univ. Porto; ILCML)
- Teresa Pinheiro (Univ. Chemnitz)

Collaborators
- Ellen Sapega (Univ. Madison, Wisc.)
- Paulo de Medeiros (Univ. Warwick)

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Members and Collaborators of the Local Research Teams

African Portuguese-speaking Countries
- Ana Paula Tavares (Univ. Católica de Lisboa)
- Ana Mafalda Leite (Univ. Lisboa)
- Jessica Falconi (Univ. Napoli; CES/Univ. Coimbra)

Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
- Jorge Fernandes da Silveira (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)(Coordinator)
- Sofia de Sousa Silva (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
- Tatiana Pequeno da Silva (Univ. Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia)
- Leonel Isac Maduro Velloso (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
- Raquel Menezes (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
- Rhea Silvia Willmer (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
- Julia Pinheiro Gomes (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
São Paulo
- Maria Lúcia Dal Farra (CNPq; Univ. São Paulo)
- Emerson Inácio (Univ. São Paulo)

England and Ireland
- Hilary Owen (Univ. Manchester)(Coordinator)
- Ana Margarida Martins (Univ. Exeter)

France
- Catherine Dumas (Univ.Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3;CREPAL)(Coordinator)
- Agnès Levécot (Univ. Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3; CREPAL)
- Adília Martins Carvalho (Univ. Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3; CREPAL; ILCML)
- Sarah Carmo (Univ. Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3; CREPAL)
- Inês Lima (Univ. Massachusetts Dartmouth; CREPAL)

Germany
- Teresa Pinheiro (Univ. Chemnitz)(Coordinator)
- Anne-Kathrin Gläser (Univ. Heidelberg)
- Sara Burmeister (Univ. Heidelberg)

Italy
- Livia Apa (Univ. Napoli)(Coordinator)
- Roberto Vecchi (Univ. Bologna)
- Manuela Moscarella (Univ. Napoli)
- Francesca Pinto (Univ. Napoli)
- Alessia Di Nardo (Univ. Napoli)
- Silvia Chesi (Univ. Napoli)

Portugal
- Ana Luísa Amaral (Univ. Porto ILCML) (Coordinator)
- Adriana Bebiano (Univ. Coimbra; CES)
- Alexandra Moreira da Silva (Univ. Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3; ILCML)
- Ana Cristina Assis (Univ. Porto)
- Ana Gabriela Macedo (Univ. Minho; CEHUM)
- Cacilda Lopes (Univ. Porto)
- Fernanda Henriques (Univ. Évora)
- Luís Filipe Costa (Univ. Porto)
- Lurdes Gonçalves (ILCML/Univ. Porto)
- Marinela Freitas (ILCML/Univ. Porto)
- Teresa Martins de Oliveira (Univ. Porto; ILCML)

Spain
- Elena Losada Soler (Univ. Barcelona)(Coordinator)
- Sónia Cardoso Melo (Univ. Barcelona)
- Cristina Guarro (Univ. Barcelona)
- María Ángeles Sans Juez (Univ. Autónoma de Madrid)

Sweden
- Chatarina Edfeldt (Univ. Dalarna)(Coordinator)
- Lis-Beth Sagen (Univ. Stockholm)
- Mário Semião (Univ. Dalarna)

United States of America
- Anna Klobucka (Univ. Massachusetts Dartmouth)(Coordinator)
- Ricardo Vasconcelos (Univ. Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
- Fernando Beleza (Univ. Massachusetts Dartmouth)


Consultants
- Gabriela Moita (Inst. Superior de Serviço Social do Porto - ISSSP)
- Isabel Allegro de Magalhães (Univ. Nova de Lisboa)
- Margarida Calafate Ribeiro (CES/Univ. Coimbra)
- Maria de Fátima Oliveira (Univ. Porto)
- Maria do Céu da Cunha Rêgo (EIGE)
- Maria Irene Ramalho (Univ. Coimbra; Univ. W-Madison, Int. Affiliate)
- Maria José Moutinho (Univ. Porto)
- Rosi Braidotti (Univ. Utrecht)

Other Collaborators
- Andreia Oliveira
- Inge Van Den
- Luísa Marinho
- Luísa Sequeira
- Marta Correia
- Miguel Pinho
- Rita Maia Gomes
- Thomas Weiβmann



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