When talking about Europe and the East, the sea and encounters, it is impossible not to think of the Portuguese Discoveries. When the Navy Academy, of which you are vice-president, organizes a symposium like this, is it also a tribute to Vasco da Gama and Portuguese navigators in general?
When touching on a theme like ‘Europe and the East’, taking the sea as a gathering space for meetings, Portugal’s presence in oceanic spaces over the centuries is nuclear. In this symposium organized by the Navy Academy, we proposed as central themes of debate not only analytical revisits around the concept of Asian seas and the art of sailing, but we intend to explore how travel from Europe to the East developed, looking beyond different cultural and technological interactions, economic, social and political-military impacts. In fact, over the last few years and in the various books we have published, resulting from our international symposiums, which are organized annually around Maritime History or the History of the East, the study of our presence on other continents and in different oceans has been the subject of constant debate. Also at the previous Maritime History symposium, which took place last year and when the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama’s death was being marked, it was analyzed how his first voyage inaugurated the “Indian Career”, opening a new historical time. The book, which will be launched on November 25th, as part of the Symposium, offers a wide audience the questions that have been the subject of research, particularly on this topic.
How can one describe these first encounters? Was there shock, conflict, but also mutual discovery?
You’re absolutely right. In these first encounters and over a period of centuries, in addition to the shock caused by difference, and the conflict motivated by divergent interests, this mutual discovery of the Other was recorded in chronicles, memories, letters… this mutual discovery of the Other, expressing different looks and feelings. For me, one of the texts that, right from the 16th century, best substantiates this way of observing and transmitting the different, especially because it expresses an attitude that is present in different historiographical discourses, is the Treatise of Luís de Fróis. This author describes, as he himself points out, very succinctly and briefly some of the contradictions and differences between the people of Europe and Japan, detailing them. I recommend this book to a reader less familiar with these subjects, as it will be an excellent way to delve into a centuries-old past, where encounters with new things became part of our daily lives.
Was Luís de Camões a pioneer, even because he lived in Asia, in transferring these encounters of cultures into literature?
I couldn’t agree more. Luís de Camões continues to be a permanent discovery, and revisiting his work is, in my opinion, a must, particularly for those like me who work in our 16th century. Knowing a man allows us to discover a time of encounters and disagreements, in particular, when this man is Luís de Camões. Uncovering the way in which he constructed a memory and expressed it through the various literary forms he used is, in my opinion, something necessary in a time when forgetfulness, even due to the speed of events, prevails.
Did you also tell us about these meetings on the Asian side?
Yes it is true. Confronting these discourses is still an area of study that requires very particular attention, especially because in its analysis, sharing and interdisciplinary work is a contingency. In recent years we have witnessed a movement towards the analytical rediscovery of these records and this is, in my opinion, the path we must take in deepening knowledge about this common past.
Personally, as an academic, how have you approached this topic?
This is exactly the field of study that has dominated my research. Most of my books and articles touch on these themes and that is also why I look forward to these three days of intense work with great anticipation, as meeting several generations of researchers, different schools and areas of knowledge, always allows me to explore new and complementary investigative horizons.
Does the Symposium, due to the diversity of contributions, also aim to be a producer of new encounters between Europe and the East?
This is clearly one of the objectives we intend to achieve and the group of experts who will be present throughout the three days at the Symposium at the Navy Academy are, from the outset, a guarantee that our expectations will come true.