The East mirages: The mythical Moors in the narrativeperformative Portuguese imaginary

Abstract

The aim of this piece is to study the construction of the Moor character, presenting it in all its plurality, made up of varied faces and stories. These characters share – among themselves and also with other mythical characters -, both clear similarities and decisive differences. In their hybrid constitution, they stand out as importantfigures in some traditional Portuguese celebrations and narratives. A parallel development between field and bibliographical research was carried out, the latter extending into the areas of popular culture, Arab studies, religion, philosophy, anthropology and history. The critical reading here carried out of the performances andnarratives incorporated by this semantic-political operator had as main goal to open room for the discussion of other discourses, collective manifestations and contexts, each highlighted by their own characteristics, when correspondences and direct or indirect relations with the Moor characters may be discovered.