Once the progenitor of an empire, then a silent witness to the empires acquired by others, Portugal gained too much too soon and then lost it all. This element of Portuguese history has
informed its myths, its national identity and its literature, but, according to Rothwell (Portuguese, Rutgers U.) the primary effect is the creation of a very peculiar father figure in a
variety of narrative forms across five centuries. Taking his cue from Lacan, Rothwell describes the concept of "empty paternity" to describe this father figure, and gives as evidence
descriptions of historical figures from Dom Sebastiao to Salazar, with readings from Ferro, de Queiros, Garrett and others. The figure Rothwell delineates is desexualized, warped, overpowering
and oppressive, the embodiment of the dark side of Portuguese identity and that of other former empires. A figure better abandoned than allowed to continue to make irrational demands on the
modern psyche. Distributed by Associated University Presses. Annotation 穢2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
