Lusophobia

Lusophobia or anti-Portuguese sentiment is hostility, racism, hatred, and/or discrimination toward Portugal, the Portuguese people or the Portuguese language and culture.

Etymology

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Like "Lusitanic", the word "Lusophobia" (Portuguese: lusofobia) derives from "Lusitania", the Ancient Roman province that comprised what is now Central and Southern Portugal and Extremadura, and "phobia", which means "fear of". The opposite concept is "Lusophilia".

Brazil

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In the 19th century, the term lusofobia was often used to describe nationalist sentiments in Brazil, a former colony of the Portuguese Empire, with liberal politicians in Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco advocating the reduction of Portuguese immigration and involvement in the Brazilian economy although almost all of them were of Portuguese descent.[1]

In Rio de Janeiro, the "Jacobinos", a small national radical group, were the strongest opponents of the galegos, the Portuguese immigrants, who have always been the biggest ethnocultural community in Brazil.[2]

In the immediate aftermath of Pedro I of Brazil downfall in 1831, the poor mixed-race and black people, including slaves, staged anti-Portuguese riots in Salvador.[3]

United Kingdom

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In 2007, after the three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared from Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region, in southern Portugal, many British media outlets wrote articles highly critical of Portugal and Portuguese police that portrayed Portugal as a "backwards banana republic".[4] Others in the media promoted anti-Portuguese sentiment with ideas such as boycotting Portugal[5] as a holiday destination, but that was not reflected in general public opinion, which saw record numbers of British tourists visit Portugal.[6][7] Estimates were that a record 2 million British tourists holidayed in Portugal in 2007.[8] Notable anti-Portuguese articles by Tony Parsons[9] received a record number of complaints to the Press Complaints Commission for that year.[10][11]

References

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  1. ^ Mosher, Jeffrey C. "Political Mobilization, Party Ideology, and Lusophobia in Nineteenth-Century Brazil: Pernambuco, 1822-1850" Hispanic American Historical Review - 80:4, November 2000, pp. 881-912
  2. ^ Jacobinos versus Galegos: Urban Radicals versus Portuguese Immigrants in Rio de Janeiro in the 1890s, June E. Hahner - Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 18, No. 2 (May, 1976), pp. 125-15, [1], JSTOR
  3. ^ "Instructional Support Center". Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  4. ^ Berlins, Marcel (10 September 2007). "Media have rushed to judge Portuguese police". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  5. ^ Simon Heffer (5 January 2008). "David Cameron's message to the Essex boys". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  6. ^ Paulo Reis. "Madeleine McCann Disappearance: Algarve Tourism Board: Increase of UK tourists is the answer to the boycott appeal from Telegraph". Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  7. ^ Região de Turismo do Algarve : Aumento do número de turistas britanicos é a resposta ao boicote do Telegraph[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Caso Madeleine" não tem efeito negativo em ano com número recorde de turistas britânicos
  9. ^ mirror Administrator (29 October 2007). "OH, UP YOURS, SENOR". mirror. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  10. ^ Press Complaints At All Time High
  11. ^ Caitlin Fitzsimmons (16 January 2008). "McCann piece and Heat stickers propel PCC complaints to record high". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2015.