Not a Small Country: Cartographic Imaginations and Marine Connections in Portuguese Geopolitical Discourse

Paper Abstract:


On April 2, 2014, at exactly 10:30am, by the order of the state, forty-five thousand maps with the slogan Portugal is Seawere put on display in classrooms, labs, and research hubs across Portugal. The maps are saturated in the color blue, which refers to the vast and diversified maritime zoned-spaces that Portugal aspires to manage in the twenty-first century. The map includes three main shades of blue, referring to three key maritime zones of Portugal’s Atlantic sea into the twenty-first century: territorial sea, EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), and Outer Continental Shelf. As far as scientific promise and popular imaginations go, would this become realizable Portugal’s size will not only grow forty-eight times bigger its current size (“the size of India”, as the local press insists on putting it) but it will be constituted 97% water and 3% land. What may such propaganda initiative and vision of a maritime Portugal (the size of India) tell about this nation’s geopolitical will and cartographic imaginations? And how does such cartographic expression reconnect present projections of the future in light of past geopolitical traditions, and imperial imaginations? The paper addresses these questions through maps and geopolitical discourses, particularly by reference to another map and national propaganda designed for the 1934 First Portuguese Colonial Exhibition whose sub-title Portugal is Not a Small Country (Portugal Não é um País Pequeno) remains in the nation’s imaginary. The paper will engage with the “not” in the slogan, exploring the semantic an political function of such negativity.