Goa’s Portuguese past shapes identities Across Continents

Goan people have travelled and built communities worldwide for centuries, often navigating complex questions of citizenship due to their unique Portuguese colonial history.

R Benedito Ferrão, an Associate Professor at William & Mary, Virginia, explores this experience in his new book, Across Continents: Writing Goans, Making Worlds. Ferrão examines how Goan characters are portrayed in novels by authors such as Salman Rushdie and MG Vassanji, alongside visual art and music, to understand the affective lives of people moving between continents.

He argues that Goan identity has always been fluid, shaped by Portuguese policies that extended citizenship beyond the European mainland as a way to maintain control over its empire. This approach differs from traditional postcolonial studies, which Ferrão believes often overlooks the specificities of Portuguese colonialism and its lasting effects. He introduces the term “lusosphere” to describe the cultural sphere created by Portuguese expansion, emphasizing that it was not solely defined by language but by a broader network of connections.

Ferrão’s research reveals that Goan people often moved between Portuguese and British territories, seeking opportunities unavailable to them in Goa due to its caste and class systems. The book also considers how Goan history is represented, or misrepresented, within larger narratives. Ferrão notes that Rushdie, while acknowledging Goa's Portuguese heritage, often prioritizes a British-centric view of India.

He suggests Goan writers and artists have been underrepresented in mainstream literary and artistic circles, and hopes his work will encourage further study of Goan subjectivity and its connection to broader global issues like displacement and colonial legacies.