Abstract
The chapter approaches the subject of personal memory vs. historical memory within photographic family albums. It explores the possibilities of investigating photographic archives through embodiment and performance. The albums in question belonged to the author's grandparents and represent a period in Portugal's past scarred by one of the longest dictatorships in history (Portuguese New State 1933-1974). The chapter explores the relevance of photographic family albums within unique historical times. The research analyses the photographs in the family albums through an iconographic approach, focusing specifically on images of the grandmothers. Representative of two women's lives during this historical period, both women lived under the same dictatorial regime, but one on mainland Portugal and the other in the Portuguese overseas and colonial territories (India, 1951-61 and Mozambique 1962-75).
TopIntroduction
This chapter approaches family photographic albums as historical documents from unofficial sources. It investigates the possibilities of exploring photographic archives through embodiment and performance photography. The family albums, which are the focus of the investigation, belonged to my grandparents (on my mother’s and father’s side) and encompass the period of the Estado Novo Regime (Portuguese ‘New State’ 1933-1974).1 The dictatorial regime took over in 1926, under the military rule and in 1933 was established under the constitution of the ‘New State’, which lasted until the military coup on April 25th 1974, summing to a total of 48 years. The political regime forms the binding element of the two families as well as the core context of the historical period contained within the archives. The analysis of the archives focuses on this political regime, as the central element, it is the context from which all images are analysed. The investigation, on which this paper is based, was originally developed in the PhD thesis “Gazing at the Family: archives, performance and Portuguese photography (1940-1975)” (University of Westminster, School of Arts, 2019). The visual work produced in the interpretation of the family archive is titled “The Archive is Present”.
The essay examines the following key questions: (i) how can family photographs be read along a historical context and what is their relevance? (ii) how can performance photography be used as a practice method for the critical interpretation of archives? (iii) Can embodiment be used as a mnemonic device?
The aim is to investigate identity formation in the generations following the end of the Portuguese dictatorship and colonial empire. To understand the identity of women and how it was influenced by the previous generations who lived respectively on the mainland and in the colonial setting.
It discusses methods for analysing family archives. The analysis is divided into two parts: firstly, the analysis focuses on two women (my grandmothers) and juxtaposes them, creating an index that joins both archives together. Secondly, the family archives are analysed separately to create typologies of imagery. The research assumes the family albums as an existing archive. The focus is not on the construction of the family album itself, but on how the album can be read and interpreted today, taking into consideration the historical and social context of when and how it was made. The goal is not simply identifying distinctive familial traits, but specifically finding the general from the particular, in order to construct an image of female identity during particular times. It is a search for identity formation within this particular historical setting.
My family’s past is intrinsically related to the history of the country, both in mainland Portugal and in its overseas territories. Accordingly, a dichotomy is represented by the two different branches of my family. Firstly, my grandparents (on my mother’s side), who moved from Lisbon to Goa and Daman in 1951 to work as civil servants, where they lived until 1961. Between 1962 and 1975 they lived in Mozambique, where they continued to work as part of the state apparatus. In 1975, after the military coup that ended the colonial war and the dictatorship, they finally returned to the mainland. Secondly, my grandparents (on my father's side), always lived in Lisbon, conforming to the traditional values imposed by the constrictive dictatorial regime that they lived under. My grandparents on my father’s side are identified as Fernandes and on my mother’s side as Janeiro.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Performance Photography: The act of photographically recording an act of performance. In the case of this text, it applies to performing for the purpose of photographing, contrary to a live performance that can be photographed in order to be registered.
Estado Novo/New State: The dictatorial regime that took over in Portugal in 1933, after the military coup on the 28 th May 1926. It succeeded the military dictatorship established in 1926 after the confusing and frail first Republic (1910-1926). It was ruled by Salazar from 1932 to 1968 and ended in 1974 with the military coup on April 25 th . The Estado Novo was homonymous to Franco’s regime in Spain and contemporary to many fascist regimes in Latin South America.
Embodiment: The act of making visible, through the body, history, identity, and culture. The act of being someone other than ourselves. The ability to become an ‘other’ body.
April 25th 1974: The date of the military coup that ended the Colonial War, and overthrew the regime of the Estado Novo (New State). This day is also known as Liberty Day and the Revolution of Carnations.
Portuguese Colonial Empire: This was the earliest and longest European empire to be formed. North Africa and Guinea (1415-1498), India (1498-1961), Brazil (1500-1822) and Africa (1822-1975). East Timor (until 1975) and Macau (until 1999) were also part of the Portuguese overseas territories. In the twentieth century some of the overseas provinces dated back to the sixteenth century. These were located in Asia, namely the Portuguese territories in India (Goa, Daman, and Diu).
Postmemory: A theory established by Marianne Hirsch in which the second generation remembers or inherits the memories of the previous generation. This was mainly applied to the families of holocaust survivors but can generally be applied to any (traumatic) memory which is faced by the succeeding generation.
Salazar (António de Oliveira Salazar, 1889-1970): The Portuguese dictator who ruled from 1928 to 1968. From 1932 to 1968 he was the leader of Estado Novo, a dictatorial regime created by him. In 1968 he was deposed due to illness. In 1928 Salazar, became minister. He then became Prime Minister and by 1933 he had laid the legal basis for the Estado Novo - its constitution and Colonial Act. Salazar managed to keep Portugal neutral during World War II. By the 1960s, his inability to politically and ideologically understand the international decolonisation movements thrust Portugal into a colonial war in Africa (1961-1974). The ‘Salazarist’ state, authoritarian and corporatist, relied on an alliance with the army and the much-feared security police, the PIDE .