ABREU, Georgina. Torre Bela e a "utopia louca de uma vida melhor": dois estudos transculturais. []. , 28, 2, pp.49-60. ISSN 0807-8967.

Apart from its intrinsic political character, the movement of 25th April 1974 constituted an opportunity for the encounter of people of varied social classes and nationalities. This aspect seems to be somehow neglected in studies about the movement that has re-founded the Portuguese democracy. However, it constitutes one of the most interesting dimensions of the movement of 25th April, a movement with strong cultural undertones. It was a moment that triggered civic energy, political awareness and mobilization, but also transcultural dialogue. The occupation of the Torre Bela hunting estate, a property owned by the Dukes of Lafões, constituted one such moment. The current study discusses precisely that type of transcultural dialogue through the analysis of two testimonies - and two distinct perceptions - of the occupation of this estate in Ribatejo, in 1975: the one by the German writer Helga Novak and the other by the French journalist and university professor Francis Pisani. Helga Novak, pseudonym of Maria Karlsdottir, published em 1976 Die Landnahme von Torre Bela [The Occupation of Torre Bela] and Francis Pisani published in 1977 a much longer text, entitled Torre Bela On a Tous le Droit d’Avoir une Vie [Torre Bela We all Have the Right to Have a Life]. These two visions are compared, and an attempt is made at explaining the differences found.

: 25th April; transcultural dialogue; Francis Pisani; Helga Novak; occupation; Torre Bela; utopia.

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