ABSTRACT
In October 1975, the Jornal O Retornado newspaper was established in Lisbon. Its creation coincided with the mass arrival of former settlers from Angola in an airlift organised by the Portuguese authorities within the context of the decolonisation process. Created by Portuguese from Africa and characterised by a sensationalist publishing line situated on the right fringe of the political spectrum, this newspaper published a total of 211 editions until it closed down in 1981. From its second edition on, one section was dedicated to readers’ letters. Keeping in mind that these letters are not a representative sample of the whole repatriated population, their analysis allows us access to a narrative of their arrival and settlement in the former metropolis, which provides an insight into their opinion on the ongoing political and social processes in Portugal, as well as on the decolonisation process itself. This chapter focusses on this last aspect, by discussing the construction of a narrative of the Return from Africa in the letters published by the newspaper from 1975 to 1976.
