Memory and heritage

‘Lusophone Goa’: Tracing the Portuguese Language’ edited by Portuguese MA student Aren Noronha, brings together a collection of first-person narratives dwelling on the multifaceted ties to the language

CHRISTINE MACHADO | NT

Last year, as a first-year MA Portuguese student, Aren Noronha discovered a few interesting books and records from Goa and Macau in the Central Library, all in Portuguese, and dating from the colonial era. This find made him pause to ponder on the significance of the Portuguese language in today’s Goa. “Like others of my generation, I only had a superficial textbook idea about the situation in Goa and the decline of the language,” he says. His parents suggested he explore his queries further by gathering first-person narratives. “My initial idea was to simply record what people from a particular time had to say. These might otherwise be lost to history,” he says.

In February 2025, he sent out a concept note to as many people as he knew who had some connection to the language, requesting their accounts. These included not just residents of Goa, but beyond its borders, including those from Mozambique, Brazil and other diaspora.

“The project would only make sense if it included a variety of diverse voices, both young and old; speakers and non-speakers; fluent speakers and new learners; those in Goa and those in the diaspora; those who love the language and those who are critical; those who look back and those who look forward,” says Noronha, admitting that given that he was a student, he had doubts whether people would respond. “But a surprising number of responses came in. By the time we finished, the book contained 45 chapters,” he says, adding that these also included pieces from his Portuguese professors and colleagues at the Goa University.

Noronha also had his doubts whether he would be able to edit the book. “I was sceptical if I could even do it. I found I also had to read a lot on the subject. But it was very gratifying, because of the deep insights you get,” he shares, adding that they used a small, alternative model to publish the book which came to be titled ‘Lusophone Goa’.

The book consists of articles that touch on various themes. Cardiologist-writer Dr Anthony Gomes, Central Library ex-curator Pia Rodrigues, among others, talk about school and college life pre-1961 and the books and magazines that circulated. Dr. Carlos Peres da Costa remembers studying from French, Spanish and English textbooks at the Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Goa (now GMC). Writer Ben Antão dwells on the difficulties of learning Portuguese by rote in school while professor Isabel Vás on how she translated a book by the father of Portugal’s ex-PM.  Filmmaker Vince Costa writes on his struggle in inheriting the language while Lisbon-based academic Sandra Ataíde Lobo tracks the writings of her grandmother, and the Konkani folklore she collected. 

All of these have been deep lessons for Noronha himself, who while he does not hail from a Portuguese speaking family, chose to study it as an optional language right from school days. “My interest in global history and growing skills in Portuguese allow me to now understand some of the rare books in the Central Library, and decipher some of Old Goa’s inscriptions (epigraphs) in monuments,” he says. And as to his opinions on the use of this language today, Noronha states that given its rich heritage in the state that spans over 500 years, its potential in Goa now depends on whether we are reactive or forward- looking.

“If Macau can use Portuguese for international business, we in Goa can do something similar. Languages are a skill, a window to the past but also a bridge to the future, as some contributors note,” he says, adding that he hopes the book will make Goans and others ponder upon this rich, and sometimes contentious linguistic inheritance of theirs.

(The book will launch on February 5 at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Porvorim. On the occasion, the book editor, Aren Noronha, the director of the Institute Camões, Panaji Delfim Correa da Silva, and the Portuguese educator Constancio Cecil de Melo will be in conversation with Professor Loraine Alberto. There will also be a guitar performance by Rui Lobo)

“Language is a window to the past—to people’s histories, struggles, thoughts, and tragedies; to their literatures, aspirations for freedom from colonial rule.”