“These lies, dear doctor, will become indisputable truths”: underground memories, violence and legitimacy in O anjo branco, by José Rodrigues dos Santos

Abstract

The objective of this article is to discuss the novel O anjo branco, by Jose Rodrigues dos Santos, based on the idea of the literary field as an archive of memories that confront each other in dispute for a narrative authority over a time and the legitimacy of its specific events. The author places himself as a representative of his community of memory and dramatize, on the stage of his narrative, an ideological argument interested much more in the representation of what he calls the “spirit of the time” of Salazarism than in the factual reconstruction of the occurrences. This notion of the intentions that underpin the regime’s actions is closely related to the basis of contractual theories that justify the monopoly and the use of violence by the public power when they aim at the common good. Thus, the article discusses the relationship between history, memory, politics and literature from theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, Hayden White, Micheal Pollack, Margarida Calafate Ribeiro and Diana Klinger.