MANUEL DA SILVA MENDES : ENTRE FASCÍNIO E SORTILÉGIO馬努艾爾‧席爾瓦‧門德斯 : 施魔法與占卦
Starting from the Western representation of Macao as an "enigmatic Orient" and exotic territory, this article analyses the singular way in which Manuel da Silva Mendes (1876-1931) observed and interpreted Chinese culture and the Macanese space, in contrast with the dominant colonial clichés of the n...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2009
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40031/3601 |
| Summary: | Starting from the Western representation of Macao as an "enigmatic Orient" and exotic territory, this article analyses the singular way in which Manuel da Silva Mendes (1876-1931) observed and interpreted Chinese culture and the Macanese space, in contrast with the dominant colonial clichés of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The author argues that Silva Mendes's "fascination" was not limited to exoticism, but rather assumed the form of a civic and intellectual commitment: a practice of reading, criticism, and dissemination guided by moral values, language, and education.
Methodologically, the text is based on the reading and contextualization of the author's articles and interventions, highlighting their generic hybridity (impressions, accounts, and narrations) and the sometimes tense coexistence between artistic sensibility and scientific rigour in themes such as Chinese painting and Buddhist temples. The analysis also incorporates critical testimonies and memoirs from contemporaries and students, which underscore his public role and the polarized reception of his discourse.
The article concludes that Silva Mendes functioned as a cultural mediator and urban intervenor, denouncing problems in education and local administration, criticizing the architectural "de-Portugalization" of Macao, and combating the Portuguese community's ignorance of Chinese culture, thereby preserving a lasting interpretative relevance. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |