Ecocriticism and Representations of the Sea in the Arts in Portugal

This focused humanities conference brings together ecocritical scholars, literary researchers, and cultural historians to examine representations of the sea in Portuguese and broader Lusophone arts and literature. Drawing on ecocriticism, blue humanities, and postcolonial studies, the conference situates Portugal's maritime heritage — its age of exploration, its fishing cultures, and its coastal environments — within contemporary debates about ocean ecology, climate change, and environmental justice. Participants explore how artists and writers have imagined, mourned, celebrated, and contested the sea across centuries of Portuguese cultural production.

culture portugal art sea

We invite proposals on ecocritical readings of Portuguese and Lusophone literature and arts, representations of the sea and marine environments in visual art, poetry, fiction, and film, the colonial sea in Portuguese cultural imagination, fishing communities and their literary representation, blue humanities methodologies applied to Lusophone texts, and the intersection of environmental crisis and artistic response in contemporary Portuguese culture. Papers in Portuguese, English, or Spanish are welcome.