Lourenço Marques and Lisbon in João Albasini’s chronicles

Abstract

The Mozambique-born journalist João dos Santos Albasini (1876–1922) is one of the most well-known names of the colonial periodical press of the Portuguese Empire. Furthermore, he is often mentioned in historiographical accounts on the birth and development of literary culture in colonial Mozambique. Albasini lived during the period of development of the port facilities in Lourenço Marques and as it underwent deep transformations in its social relations. As a main project of the capital city’s growth, the development of the port and the railways dominated urban life and the landscape, which is reflected peculiarly in Albasini’s life and writing. This article is a case study of the relationship between the colonial periodical press and port cities through analyses of a selection of his chronicles published in the newspapers O Africano (The African) (1908–18) and O Brado Africano (The African Cry) (1918–75).