Event Highlights: Lusophone Voices: A Reading & Conversation with José Eduardo Agualusa
Our popular European Voices series has given rise to a number of related initiatives, notably, Irish Voices, Russian Voices, and beginning last year—with the visit of Portuguese writer Gonçalo M. Tavares in April 2015 and with support from the Saab-Pedroso Center for Portuguese Culture and Research at UMASS—Lusophone Voices.
For the second event in that series, which took place on Tuesday, April 12, we invited the Portuguese-Angolan writer José Eduardo Agualusa’s visit was co-sponsored by the African Studies Center at Boston University and UMASS Lowell, where he spoke during the afternoon of April 13. His readings at Boston University and UMass Lowell took place as part of the 2016 Boston Portuguese Festival.
José Eduardo Agualusa [Alves da Cunha] was born 1960 in Huambo and is considered one of Angola’s most important writers. He studied agronomy and forestry in Lisbon before starting his writing career as a poet. His novel Creole was awarded the Portuguese Grand Prize for Literature, and he recently received the U.K.’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in the U.K. for The Book of Chameleons. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages.
At Boston University, Agualusa read from most recent novel to be translated into English, A General Theory of Oblivion. The book tells the story of Angola through Ludo, a woman who bricks herself into her apartment on the eve of Angolan independence. Published by Archipelago Books last year, it is one of thirteen finalists for the Man Booker International Prize (awarded annually on the basis of the single book) and one of twenty-five finalists for the Best Translated Book Award (by Three Percent) of 2015.
The event began with an introduction by the Portuguese Consul General of Boston, who both praised the works of Agualusa and thanked the BU Center for the Study of Europe for hosting such an esteemed Lusophone event. Heywood continued with a more specific introduction on herself and a brief biography of Agualusa’s life and career. After giving a summary of the book, Agualusa read several excerpts from Oblivion, which captivated those present, both individuals fluent in Portuguese or those who followed along with the projected English translation of the text.
Heywood began the conversation by briefly discussing her personal experiences in both Lisbon and Luanda, specifically her interactions with both native Portuguese and Angolan emigres. Agualusa responded by explaining how his book is about colonialism, specifically how his protagonist is “an orphan of the Portuguese Empire,” leading to her 30 years of isolation. He continues, however, by explaining she saves herself at the end of the novel by she discovering that “the other” is equal to herself – Agualusa emphasized the importance in recognizing xenophobia and the fear of others, particularly in the contemporary world. Heywood added to his commentary, explaining how the emigres from Angola to the heartland of Portugal were the wealthy who left in threat of survival after having exploited many Africans and Angolans. But she also mentioned how the integration of these emigres, once reestablished in Lisbon, publicly displayed mixed race families. Agualusa explained how the real story of colonization is mixed race families, and, more importantly, mixed identities.
Heywood shifted the discussion toward more personal stories of her experience in Luanda during the late 1970s. Agualusa described the ‘magical realism’ surrounding Angola, but attempted to explain how “that’s just the reality… Angola is very unique.” Heywood echoed his statements, adding how her time in Luanda felt almost like an alternate universe. The conversation continued with various stories from the two speakers, as Heywood and Agualusa shared a friendly and intimate dialogue about specific areas of Angola, purposefully delving into personal experiences in the distinctly diverse nation, while maintaining a humorous conversation. On the ‘rural nature’ of Angola, Agualusa jokingly said, “I could hear lions from my house.. it was from the zoo, yes, but I could hear lions!”
The floor opened to questions from the audience, and the first question was in regards to the influence of Agualusa’s experience living and traveling in many Lusophone nations. His emotional response explained clearly how he is “at home when I am with those who I love,” and continued with an explanation of how, as a Lusophone writer, he uses what he referred to as ‘global Portuguese’. Rather than use regional dialects, Agualusa’s goal in his literary projects is to unite the reach of Portuguese language and culture, and emphasize the various influences and sharing from centuries of integration and colonization.
Heywood broke into the conversation, poignantly asking “who are the Portuguese?” Agualusa thought briefly before responding, while difficult for Americans to understand given their focus on ethnicity and race, the Portuguese are a mix of all the Lusophone nations, all carrying a unique interpretation of Portuguese identity. This led to the final question, when Heywood asked Agualusa “who are the Angolans? Are they Lusophone, European, or African? And what is going to happen going forward?” The event ended with Agualusa attempting to answer these challenging questions, as he explained the bizarre reality of African nations in a post colonial world. While the EU is becoming increasingly homogenous, Agualusa pointed to the fact that everyone has a right to be Angolan, emphasizing the concept that “there is not just one way,” and highlighting the differences between the colonization of the Americas and that of African nations such as Angola.
Watch the event on BUniverse:
This year’s European Voices events are organized in collaboration with the literary journal AGNI and the Goethe-Institut Boston and are taking place as part of EU Futures, a series of conversations exploring the emerging future in Europe. The EU Futures project is supported by a Getting to Know Europe Grant from the European Commission Delegation in Washington, DC to the Center for the Study of Europe at Boston University.