Paper short abstract:

In this paper we will look at the different appropriations and creative reworkings of the intangible heritage of saudades - a word strongly associated with Portugueseness and with Fado - following its circulation in different Portuguese speaking countries throughout the world.

Paper long abstract:

In November 2011, Fado, a Portuguese music genre, was added to UNESCO's list of World's Intangible Cultural Heritage. Being described as a popular mournful song characteristic of the city of Lisbon, Fado is strongly associated with the concept of "saudade". Praised as an "exceptional" Portuguese word, with no immediate translation to other languages, saudade expresses a state of mind and a set of feelings that have been associated with a "Portuguese way of life": a constant yearning, a longing for something that is missing or that is unattainable. Singing and embodying this feeling, Fado is strongly associated with Portugueseness as saudades is a central theme in the narratives of Portuguese national identity. However, the circulation of the word throughout the world, namely in the territories of the former Portuguese Empire, has resulted in the emergence of a range of different cultural and political appropriations of saudade. These appropriations reveal creative reworkings of this concept: either they differentiate these separate national identities from the former colonialist, or they bring to it new qualities.

With this paper we aim to analyse the complexity of meanings associated with the intangible heritage related with the concept of saudades, as well as its creative reworkings following its transference to other historical and cultural contexts. Our approach will be comparative and intends to reveal the different ways in which saudades is manifested in expressions of popular culture in different Portuguese speaking countries.