To Talk or Not to Talk: Silence, Torture, and Politics in the Portuguese Dictatorship of Estado Novo

Abstract

This article is based on the author’s wider research into Maoism in Portugal from 1964 to 1974 during the final years of the Estado Novo (New State) dictatorship. It analyzes the so-called “issue of conduct,” that is, the “correct” behavior of militants under arrest and torture. The aim is to reveal how this subject—heavily defined by the dualism of “talking” / “not talking”—has endured in time and to emphasize how, through this dualism, connections can be established between torture, silence, and memory.