Autori: Veronica Manole

Editorial: Christian Wentzlaff-Eggebert , Kölner Beiträge zur Lateinamerikaforschung ARbeitskreis Spanien - Portugal - Lateinamerika, Köln / Colonia,, El proyecto de una identidad europea: La convivencia de los pueblos, p.182-196., 2008.

Rezumat:

This paper presents Sebastianism, one of the Portuguese national myths, and the importance of the miracle in the Portuguese identity. The foundational myth, the miracle from Ourique, is the one that claims the divine intervention in the creation of the Portuguese nation. Miracle will continue to be an important part of the Portuguese identity, leading to the appearance of Sebastianism, the myth of the king who would return to save the nation. The origins of the myth go back in time to a historical figure, King Sebastian, who died on the battlefield in northern Africa while trying to expand the empire. As he left no heirs to the throne, his death lead to a dynastic crisis, solved two years later when Philip II of Spain became Philip I of Portugal and created the Iberian Union. The death of the king was not accepted by the people who believed he would come back on a foggy morning to save the nation. Both history and literature account for the importance of Sebastianism in the Portuguese mentality. While the former still tries to discover the truth about several issues regarding King Sebastian, the latter use the myth in order to create a concept of identity. Teixeira de Pascoaes related Sebastianism to the Portuguese soul, seeing it as a source of decadence and Fernando Pessoa made a new religion out of it in the poem „The Message”. Some authors of the second half of the 20th century dethrone King Sebastian, by means of irony or parody. In spite of the various attempts of demystification, the messianic King Sebastian remains an important figure of the Portuguese history and to some extent a fundamental myth of the Portuguese identity.

Cuvinte cheie: European Identity