Thomas Braga's Portingales: A Celebration of Portuguese American Culture

Abstract

Profoundly fascinated by and connected to the ancestral culture, Thomas Braga in Portingales (1981) believes he can best express his condition as a so­ called hyphenated American if he expresses himself in English rather than in Portuguese. Fully aware that English, as opposed to Portuguese, will connect him with broader audiences so as to convey his ethnic experience, Braga's poems are subtle reminders to mainstream America of the enormous contributions of the peoples of Portuguese descent to the building of the United States of America. While focusing on the complexities of being born and growing up as a hyphenated native of the United States, Braga is also eager to celebrate Portuguese American heroes, express the Portuguese reaction to mainstream values and beliefs, and show how Portuguese values and traditions are kept alive within a dominant culture, particularly through his grandmother, whom he views as a connecting bridge for the country and culture of Braga's ancestors.