Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the imperial locations and geocultural identities performed for Philip III’s entry into Lisbon in João Sardinha Mimoso’s _Relación de la real tragicomedia_ (Lisbon, 1620), in order to explore the ways in which embodied geographies both support and challenge imperial ideologies.

Paper long abstract:

Upon Vasco da Gama's arrival in Lisbon following his successful voyage to the Orient, King Manuel I ordered public celebrations to commemorate the event, including a dance of costumed figures representing the Eastern provinces which would now render him tribute. At least, this is how the explorer's welcome was performed for King Philip III in Lisbon in 1619 by the students of the Jesuit college of Saint Anthony. The performance is described in João Sardinha Mimoso's _Relación de la real tragicomedia_ (Lisbon, 1620), one of several accounts of Philip III's entry into Lisbon. The curious celebration-within-a-celebration reorients the object of acclaim from the Spanish King to his Portuguese ancestor King Manuel I and Vasco da Gama, who are described as "drawing the eyes of everyone" (52r). The fruits of Portuguese imperial expansion were also put on display in the Jesuit performance. For example, a Brazilian king—dressed in the typical Tupinambá costume of feathered headdress and cape—was represented by a "naturally dark" student who performed songs in Africanized Spanish as well as Brasilica. In this paper I examine, on the one hand, how the embodied performance of Portuguese expansion displaces Madrid and positions Lisbon as the center of Philip III's empire. On the other hand, I explore the African, Amerindian, and Asian identities represented through clothing, language, music, dance, and skin color in the Jesuit performance—and the slippages between those identities—in order to study the ways in which that embodied geographies both support and challenge imperial ideologies.