An Immense Portugal: The Fate of Being a Colonial Empire

In 1973, Brazilian musician Chico Buarque, in collaboration with Mozambican poet Ruy Guerra, composed Fado Tropical for the play Calabar. Set in the 16th century during the Dutch invasion of northeastern Brazil, the play tells the story of Calabar, a mixed-race entrepreneur who switches allegiances, shifting his support from the Portuguese Empire to aiding the Dutch Republic in its invasion. Fado Tropical satirizes the aspirations of the colonial elite, who dreamed of transforming Brazil into an "immense Portugal," awkwardly culminating in a “colonial empire.” Written during Brazil's repressive military dictatorship and shortly before Portugal's Carnation Revolution, both the song and the play were initially censored. Fado Tropical skillfully employs the musical tradition of fado (Portugal’s most renowned musical genre) to deliver a biting critique of colonialism. The article aims to analyze the song in relation to its historical period. The method used is a discussion of its poetic and musical construction, and how both elements interact with various socio-cultural movements—from modernism to the cultural and artistic critiques of oppression that followed the period of dictatorship. The conclusion is that the satire in this song also conveys a strong sense of nihilism, suggesting a future where Brazil, despite its vastness and immense potential, is doomed to always remain a colony—even if one day it becomes an empire, it will be colonial empire.