Asian Writing in Portuguese – Introduction

This issue brings together recent criticism showing that Portuguese-language literary production from Asia, which began in the 16th century and continues to this day, is an area of study yet to be fully known and explored. While Portuguese, Brazilian and African literatures in Portuguese are already systematically studied, Asian writing in Portuguese can be seen as doubly marginal in the context of both Portuguese/Lusophone and Asian studies. By analysing specific authors and works, the essays here offer tentative answers as to what place these textual traditions have in both Lusophone and Asian studies. The essays presented in this issue focus on texts and authors from Goa, Macao and Timor-Leste, territories where, in each case, the Portuguese colonial administration lasted centuries (respectively 451, 442 and 273 years). A common feature across the essays is the dialogue the various texts establish with a Portuguese-metropolitan intelligentsia and its intellectual production regarding the Portuguese presence in Asia.