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Derek Allen
Derek Allen is a is a recipient of the Berkeley-Portugal Research Fund for Graduate Students.
Through this award, Allen will conduct research in Lisbon under the supervision of Dr. Maria do Carmo Piçarra, Contract Researcher at ICNOVA/FCSH and Assistant Professor at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa. Allen’s dissertation examines postcolonial identity formation in literature and film depicting the Luso-African Wars for Independence and the subsequent civil wars in Angola and Mozambique. Drawing on postcolonial and cultural identity theory, his research explores the deconstruction of Portuguese colonial mythology, the traumatic afterlives of colonialism, and the role of cultural production as a form of political intervention and resistance.
Organized geographically around Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, and Portugal, the project analyzes how novels and films reflect and shape tensions between tradition and modernity, collectivism and individualism, and capitalism and socialism during and after the armed struggles. By focusing on Portuguese perspectives and examining censorship under the Estado Novo regime alongside postcolonial literary and cinematic responses, Allen’s work highlights the power of literature and film to mediate historical memory and contribute to contemporary Lusophone identity formation.