Between silence and manipulation: Bergman and censorship in Portugal in the 1960s

Abstract

We started from the idea of territory, concept and central theme of this Meeting. From the outset, this notion has a complex but enlightening etymological origin: its main root, originating from the Latin territorium, is formed by the etymists: - earth -, meaning “soil”, “region”, “country”; - torium - a suffix indicating a place associated with an action. Thus, territorium originally expressed “the extension of land belonging to a city or state”. It is precisely in this specific domain - the Estado Novo, with political, social, ethical and moral implications - that we intend to talk about Bergman and the films shown among us. It is therefore important to state that this study – “Between Silence and Manipulation: Bergman and Censorship in Portugal, the 60s” – begins by contextualizing the existing situation in Portugal, whose mention is not of a geographical order, but of the jurisdiction of a community, and does so by marking, in this approach, the reality of the 60s. Highlighting this specific territory, a singular context of censorship and cinematographic reception is configured, under the responsibility of the Estado Novo, different from what occurred in other European countries. [...]