The publishers and the Estado Novo: the place of the National Publishers and Booksellers Guild

Abstract

The reorganizing of the publishing sphere of the social space of the book during the Estado Novo regime in Portugal takes place, in a surprisingly vibrant fashion, in a scenario of difficulties and obstacles. Dwelling on the relation collectively established between publishers and the political power in place by exploring the Grémio Nacional dos Editores e Livreiros (National Publishers and Booksellers Guild), the article seeks to understand the institutional dynamics of the publishing world, thus overcoming current beliefs still prevailing about the connection of such a world with political projects of authoritarian nature, which tend to oversimplify a field with a complex, ambiguous and contradictory framework.