Obras Proibidas e Censuradas no Estado Novo: Folha de Sala / Forbidden and Censored Books during the Estado Novo: Exhibition Leaflet

This essay constitutes the leaflet, or brochure, of the exhibition "Obras Proibidas e Censuradas no Estado Novo" [Forbidden and Censored Books during the Estado Novo], curated by Álvaro Seiça, Luís Sá, and Manuela Rêgo, on view at the National Library of Portugal between March 3 and September 16, 2022. It is the first-ever exhibition to display the original copies censored, stamped, underlined, and expurgated by the censors of the Portuguese dictatorship in the 20th century. Given the number of sources now revealed, the exhibition is a new contribution towards studying the effects of book censorship on Portuguese and Lusophone culture, but also foreign literature that was imported or translated in Portugal. Until today, the original copies from the Library/Archive of the Direcção dos Serviços de Censura (The Directorate of Censorship Services) – which, under different names, kept an archive between 1934 and 1974 – were unknown to the public. The discovery of this hidden treasure is a highly significant moment, since it enriches the study and perception of the censorial practice as a heterogeneous and fluctuating process during almost half a century.