The revolutionary imaginary of the 1960s in Tigre en papier, by Olivier Rolin and in A casa, by Pepetela

Abstract

The revolutionary ideologies and utopias of the 1960s are a significant element for understanding the history of the present time and the memories of former participants, and their repercussions. The article discusses two memorialist and fictional narratives about those moments: Tigre en Papier, written by Olivier Rolin, and the excerpt A Casa, in A Geração da Utopia, written by Pepetela. Based on a methodology of qualitative analysis and comparative literature interpretation, it debates the displacement of the revolutionary imaginary of the 1960s, from France and Portugal to the global South, to compose a Third-Worldist image of their aspirations and utopias. Finally, it concludes that besides the scenario of youth revolt carried out in those central countries, there would be a little-revealed memory, which would raise and idealize revolutionary places distant from Europe.