'Drowning Ideology' The Rewriting of 18th Century Shipwreck Stories for de 20th Century Youth

Abstract

In 1934 António Sérgio publishes História Trágico-Marítima (Tragic Maritime History) which attained its 11th edition in 2008. The book contains a compilation of shipwreck stories that were originally written during the Era of the Portuguese Discoveries, and are now adapted for the youth. Sérgio's direct source was the 18* century historian (and adaptor) Bernardo Gomes de Brito, whose compilation of those 15'/16' century manuscripts was to form an ideological precept for his readers by reminding them of the almightiness of God. A structural comparison between both texts, reinforced by the theory of adaptation of Linda Hutcheon will reveal a fundamental ideological transformation over the centuries. By focusing on the extracts that were eliminated or rewritten by Sérgio, on the change in the role of the allegorical characters, and on the alterations on the level of the narrator, a secular and nationalistic tendency is revealed. The fact that the representation of the Era of the Portuguese Discoveries towards the young readers of the adaptation's 11' edition remains unchanged makes these conclusions a very topical subject.