We are pleased to announce that Portuguese Literary & Cultural Studies (PLCS) 42, “Mapping the Public Rituals of the Portuguese Empire,” is now available! You can find this issue as well as all back issues available for free on the journal’s website.

Present in all spaces of the Portuguese empire—which in the early modern period extended to four continents—public rituals offer a unique lens to compare cultural and political practices in different geographies, and to study their transmission and transformation on a global scale. This special issue gathers articles that analyze and compare public rituals—including royal acclamations, solemn entries, religious processions, and autos-da-fé—in various areas of the Portuguese empire, from Lisbon to Macau and Goa in Asia; Bahia and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; and Luanda in Africa. With a focus on the spatial dimensions of ritual and the ethnic diversity of participants, the essays illuminate the various agendas, tensions, and dialogues on display in public rituals, and challenge simplistic readings of the relationship of public ritual to power and discipline, harmony and hierarchy.

The Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture’s Tagus Press publishes its electronic version of PLCS on the library’s journal hosting platform.