The Role of Art Under Salazar's Authoritarian Estado Novo: Propaganda, Resistance, and Revolution

Introduction 

Creation in all forms exists as a reflection of society, a gleam of aesthetics, and a potent tool for control and resistance. By its nature, artistic creations are deeply intertwined with the person who created them—often serving as a mirror, reflecting the values, struggles, and ideologies of both the person who creates, and the society that formed them. Thus, it is crucial to understand the socio-political context of the time created. With these characteristics, art has the power to embody collective emotions, behaviors, and ideologies, making it a critical sphere where political and cultural tensions can play out. Art becomes a commentary on the world, a visual language through which society can reflect on its own state and form of communication. Within that communication, we realize that art is not just an aesthetic pursuit but a force that can influence, critique, and shape political discourse. 

To speak on art, we must first describe how we define such a broad categorization. In this thesis, art is any conscious use of skill to express imagination or observation in product creation. This means the usual category of visual arts, like painting, in addition to the arts of poetry, music, sculpture, etc. Therefore, art intersects with various social, cultural, and religious domains, where music, written, and spoken words greatly affect communities.                                                                                                                                                                                            

In 1962, American Abstract Expressionist painter Barnett Newman said in an interview, “[Art critic] Rosenberg challenged me to explain what one of my paintings could mean to the world. My answer was that if he and others could read it properly, it would mean the end of all state capitalism and totalitarianism” (Segal, 2016). Reminding us that the relations between art and politics are seldom straightforward. Even when the artist has well-defined ideas about the political meaning of their work, critics can interpret it radically differently. Though we interpret visual images based on shared knowledge, interpretation can shift depending on many factors. “Art is not competent in politics and makes us deviant by dominating our feelings” (Kreft, 2009). However, in the greater historical context, art offers a window into societal mindsets during a particular period or civilization.

Art has been a mirror to society throughout history, reflecting its anxieties, ideals, and struggles. Under authoritarian regimes, art becomes more than a reflection— In places like Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Francoist Spain, cultural production was tightly controlled, serving as a propaganda tool for the regime. This repression breeds resistance. Artists like Pablo Picasso in Spain and surrealist movements in Italy used their works to resist authority, embedding critique in what the regime hoped would be only aesthetic works.

Portugal’s Estado Novo, established by António de Oliveira Salazar, followed a similar path. From 1933 to 1974, Salazar created one of the longest-standing dictatorships in Europe. As in Italy and Spain, Salazar sought to control art through institutions like the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional (SPN) and censorship via the infamous 'Lápis Azul' (Blue Pencil). Nevertheless, Portuguese artists like Amália Rodrigues and Zeca Afonso found ways to resist this control. Their music carried subtle critiques woven into lyrics that could bypass censors but resonate with audiences. This tension between state propaganda and subversive resistance is the heart of this study.

This thesis aims to uncover how art operates as both a vehicle for propaganda and a tool for resistance within authoritarian regimes, using Portugal's Estado Novo as a case study. Unlike other fascist regimes, which have been well-documented in art history, Portugal’s artistic subversion under Salazar remains underexplored. This study offers insight into Portuguese history and the broader mechanisms of control and subversion in totalitarian systems worldwide. This thesis argues that under Salazar's Estado Novo, art was both a weapon of political propaganda and a space of subversion. By focusing on the case studies of Amália Rodrigues, Zeca Afonso, and Paula Rego, the thesis illustrates how Portuguese artists navigated censorship, subtly embedding messages of resistance within Salazar’s cultural framework.

Literature Review

Literature Introduction

The literature review examines the complex relationship between art and politics, focusing specifically on Portugal’s Estado Novo (New State) under António de Oliveira Salazar, drawing on global literature on authoritarianism and artistic resistance to establish the theoretical framework of propaganda, hegemony, and subversion. This review consists of two parts. The first explores existing global literature on art’s role in other influential political regimes, specifically those with increased hegemony– Mussolini’s Italy, Nazi Germany, and Francoist Spain. The second part of the literature review narrows the focus to Salazar’s Estado Novo, examining the regime’s political climate, use of art as propaganda, and attempts to censor subversive art. Highlighting key works on Salazar’s cultural control through the SPN (Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional, National Propaganda Secretarial), Verde Gaio, and the 3 Fs, Fado, Fátima, Futebol, through scholarship on this Portuguese artistic existence. The review concludes by identifying gaps in the existing literature, particularly the under-explored role of Portuguese artists as active agents of resistance within a controlled cultural environment.   

Hegemony and Cultural Control
“Man is not ruled by force alone, but also by ideas.” - Gramsci (1929-35)

Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony argues that power is held and maintained through coercion and, most importantly, consent. This framework was built on an analysis and deeper understanding of Italian and German Fascist thought. Gramsci theorizes that by controlling cultural production – art, music, education, and public discourse– rulers produce a shared “common sense,” or mindset, reinforcing their legitimacy. Unlike direct violence, hegemony operates through the normalization of ideology, making oppressive power feel natural and inevitable. Bates analyzes Antonio Gramsci’s prison papers, where he states, “Hegemony refers to the process by which the ruling class maintains dominance, not only through force but through cultural consent. By shaping cultural institutions (media, education, art), the dominant group presents its ideology as ‘common sense,’ so people internalize it as natural” (Bates, 1975). The system works best when it appears invisible when populations are under the impression that this is just how things are. 

Bates analyzes Gramsci’s notes, continuing to define coercion and consent. While coercion is achieved through violence, force, and repression (like secret police and imprisonment), consent is achieved by shaping cultural norms, values, and ideologies. Coercion is visible and fear-inducing, while consent is invisible and subconscious. 

Art plays a crucial role in hegemony because it shapes social and cultural imagination as an affective medium—it evokes emotion, nostalgia, and pride. By controlling art, regimes can dictate how people see themselves, their nation, and their roles, ultimately forming cultural narratives. Propaganda art moves beyond politics, becoming an unseen teacher that conditions the masses to accept the state’s portrayed version of reality. This has been considered throughout history and time; in the 4th century BCE, Aristotle analyzed art’s effect on society and deemed its emotional evocation as a strength and a manner or tool of education. (Belfiore, 1992).

With this in mind, analysis reveals how other fascist regimes harnessed art’s ability to influence the emotions of the masses. For example, Nazi Germany’s propaganda posters and films glorified power, racial purity, and the "natural" superiority of the Aryan race, evoking pride and submission. 

This understanding, coupled with Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, provides a crucial framework for understanding Salazar's cultural control strategy, where he replicated the mechanisms of hegemony, rendering his power invisible to the public.

As Gramsci explains, "When the ruling class succeeds in presenting its worldview as the only rational and natural way of seeing the world, hegemony has been achieved." This distinction is vital for understanding how authoritarian regimes like Salazar’s Estado Novo relied not just on police repression (via PIDE) but also on tools of consent. Under Salazar, hegemony was maintained by controlling cultural production, censorship, and religious nationalism through radio broadcasts, youth education, the SPN, Fado Music, Verde Gaio, and the Lápis Azul censorship system. Ultimately, it cultivates a sense of submission and nationalism within Portuguese society. However, this strategy was not unique to Portugal. Across the 20th century, other authoritarian regimes, such as Mussolini’s Italy, Franco's Spain, and Hitler’s Germany, also utilized art to cultivate loyalty, evoke emotional pride, and maintain hegemonic control. By examining art as propaganda in a global context, we gain a clearer understanding of how regimes around the world transformed cultural production into a vehicle of governmental power and how citizens may have used their limited power to create resistance. 

Art as Propaganda in a Global Context

Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, and Franco’s Spain all established state-run cultural institutions to promote national pride, racial superiority, and traditionalist ideals by sponsoring national exhibitions, films, architecture, and art to control the public sphere. Studying these regimes offers essential context for understanding Salazar’s Estado Novo, as their shared reliance on propaganda demonstrates how art became a hallmark of 20th-century authoritarian rule, as well as how political dissidence was displayed through creation.

Plato's Views on Art and Politics:

Plato warned that art could destabilize society by stirring the emotions of the masses. Authoritarian regimes like Salazar’s Estado Novo seemed to understand this threat, as they not only restricted dissenting voices but also filled the cultural space with state-approved, emotionally charged propaganda that glorified submission, rural innocence, and national pride. Following Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, we understand that this power operates through coercion and consent, achieved by controlling cultural production and manufacturing societal ideology. By embedding their principles in everyday visual and cultural life, authoritarian regimes make their dominance appear natural. This can be seen in the works produced by Mussolini’s Istituto Nazionale di Cultura Fascista, Hitler’s Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture), and Salazar’s Secretariado da Propaganda Nacional (SPN).

Mussolini's Italy and Developing Anti-Hegemony:

Mussolini’s Italy sought to revive the grandeur of the Roman Empire, using art, film, and architecture to instill feelings of national pride, imperial nostalgia, and submission to the state. As Antonelli (2023) notes, Mussolini sought to project the image of a 'new Roman citizen'—a militarized, obedient figure. To achieve this, Mussolini turned to visual art and monumental architecture to frame the state as timeless, natural, and inevitable. Central to this project was establishing the Istituto Luce and the Istituto Nazionale di Cultura Fascista; Italy’s state-controlled propaganda agencies controlled film production, visual art, and public exhibitions, ensuring that all cultural output aligned with fascist ideology.

The Istituto Luce (L'Unione Cinematografica Educativa) (The Union of Cinematographic Education) was one of the most influential propaganda tools of Mussolini’s regime. Originally founded as an educational cinema company, it became essential to fascist propaganda. Its primary role was to control film production, visual art, and cinegiornali, or newsreels that played before movie screenings in theaters across Italy. These short, state-controlled news segments were played before films in cinemas and were one of the most effective means of mass communication in the pre-television era. As audiences gathered, they were exposed to images glorifying Mussolini's leadership, the military, and Italy’s technological advancements while portraying Italy as a modern, industrious, and unified society (Fabbri, 2023). By blending education and propaganda, these films shaped public perception and reinforced the regime's ideological goals. Presenting Mussolini as a "man of the people" and embedding heroic images of himself in the daily news cycle, he projected an image of strength, accessibility, and unity with the Italian working class, further solidifying his connection to the people and his image as a leader committed to the welfare of the Italian nation (Antonelli, 2023).

The Istituto Nazionale di Cultura Fascista (National Institute of Fascist Culture) was founded to establish a cultural monopoly on the production of knowledge and art. Unlike the Istituto Luce, which focused on visual propaganda, the Istituto Nazionale di Cultura Fascista operated more broadly, overseeing public exhibitions, museum displays, and art competitions. The institute sought to create and promote a distinctly "fascist aesthetic" that combined classical Roman influences with modernist styles. (Pugliese, 2003)

This cultural institution sponsored art exhibitions and created a state-sanctioned artistic style that glorified rural life, militarism, and the image of the disciplined Italian man. These exhibitions often included grand frescoes, murals, and sculptures depicting Roman soldiers, modern workers, and muscular athletes — all symbolizing the ideal Italian citizen. (Pugliese, 2003)

Still, there exist limits of fascist control over art, demonstrating that propaganda systems are not omnipotent. No matter how strong the state's efforts to control art, resistance emerges. In Mussolini’s Italy, Pugliese states that artists found ways to resist, subvert, and critique fascist ideology through modernist art, abstraction, and surrealist techniques, rejecting fascist realism and nationalist aesthetics. Italian modernist artists, especially futurists, avant-garde, and surrealists, rejected the idea of rigid art and refused to produce the monumental, grandiose images Mussolini demanded. Surrealism, in particular, was seen as a threat because it challenged rationality, logic, and order — all of which Mussolini sought to impose on the people. Since open critique of his rule was met with severe repression and censorship, many artists relied on symbolic subversion.

Artists like Giorgio de Chirico created what later became known as metaphysical art, which focused on unsettling and eerie imagery. Rather than emphasizing fascist ideals of power, these works often featured isolated figures, shadowy streets, and haunting, empty public squares. In de Chirico’s painting The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street (1914), the empty street, dark shadows, and absence of visible power figures stand in sharp contrast to Mussolini’s aesthetic of bustling, unified crowds. Instead of projecting order and stability, de Chirico’s art conveyed ambiguity, unease, and uncertainty. While de Chirico did not directly attack Mussolini's regime, his paintings challenged the central fascist message of 'unification and strength.' By creating images of isolation, shadow, and unease, de Chirico’s art challenged the appearance of social unity. (Merjian, 2018) Counter-hegemonic resistance does not always require direct critique — it can emerge through aesthetic dissonance and the rejection of 'consent' to dominant cultural norms in favor of alternative, disorderly visions of society (Lears, 1985). 

Symbolic resistance again appears through the displacement of national symbols in Mario Sironi’s murals, commissioned by the state, which at first glance appeared to glorify fascist laborers. Upon closer examination, subtle distortions in proportion and the haunting use of shadow created a more ambiguous image. Pugliese finds that Sironi, like many artists operating under fascist censorship, used this ambiguity as a strategy of resistance — allowing subversion to 'hide in plain sight' within state-sponsored commissions. Merjian (2018) notes that Sironi's works were neither overtly rebellious nor fully complicit, representing a form of 'ambiguous resistance' or counter-hegemony. This dynamic is, again, not unique to Italy. In the following section, we turn to Nazi Germany, where artistic resistance took the form of 'degenerate art,' which was banned, confiscated, and publicly displayed as a warning against subversive cultural production.

Nazi Art as Propaganda and ‘Degenerate’ Artistic Resistance

Hitler's Germany placed art at the heart of its ideological agenda, appointing Joseph Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda), who sought to establish complete control over cultural production. The Nazi regime rejected modernist, surrealist, and abstract art, labeling it as "degenerate" (entartete Kunst). Instead, they promoted a style known as Heroic Realism, which Roitberg describes as glorifying purity, Aryan strength, militarism, and submission to the state. This aesthetic was promoted through monumental public architecture, large-scale exhibitions, films, and sculptures, all of which reinforced the visual spectacle of power. While the Nazi regime claimed to 'purify' German culture, their campaign against 'degenerate art' revealed the limits of cultural hegemony. Through displacement, dissonance, and underground artistic production, German artists challenged the vision of fascist control. (Roitberg, 2020)

The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP), founded in 1933 and led by Joseph Goebbels, was the central body for controlling all forms of mass communication, including radio, cinema, music, and visual art. While similar to Mussolini’s Istituto Luce, the RMVP had more direct control over press, literature, and broadcasting. Doob, in Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda, describes their goal as saturating public life with Nazi ideology and removing dissenting voices. Through the RMVP, Goebbels sought to establish a 'total environment' of propaganda where no citizen could escape the state's visual, auditory, or textual presence. Unlike Mussolini’s reliance on theatrical spectacle, Goebbels understood the power of everyday media, particularly radio broadcasts and newsreels. This exemplifies hegemony as achieved through 'invisible control' of everyday cultural production (Doob, 1950).

The Reichskulturkammer (RKK), founded in 1933, was a professional organization that all artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers had to join if they wanted to work legally. Membership required artists to adhere to Nazi ideology and produce works that reflected heroic realism, nationalism, and racial purity. Artists who refused to comply were banned from making art, resulting in professional erasure (Steinweis, 1993). By requiring artists to join the RKK, the Nazi regime institutionalized cultural hegemony through a system of control. This approach mirrors Salazar's use of the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional (SPN), which sought to oversee Portuguese cultural production. However, while Salazar’s system used exhibitions as soft persuasion, the RKK used professional erasure as coercion, exemplifying Gramsci’s notion that cultural dominance is achieved both through coercion and consent.

Hitler banned modernist, abstract, and avant-garde works, labeling them “degenerate art.” Instead, they promoted a style called Heroic Realism, featuring idealized depictions of Aryan men and women as strong, healthy, and submissive. Sculptors like Arno Breker and painters like Adolf Wissel produced images that depicted the Aryan race as the ideal form of humanity (Petropoulos, 2014). Breker’s Die Partei (The Party) portrays a commanding, muscular male figure symbolizing the unity of the party and the strength of Aryan masculinity. 

Adolf Wissel was one of the most prominent painters of Heroic Realism in Nazi Germany, best known for his portrayal of rural, agricultural life. His works idealized the "natural order" of family, labor, and racial purity, aligning with the Nazi regime’s vision of a Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community) centered around racial hierarchy, rural purity, and the 'blood and soil' ideology (Blut und Boden). (Petropoulos, 2014) Unlike Arno Breker's monumental sculptures of muscular warriors, Wissel’s paintings focused on pastoral life and the domestic sphere, romanticizing the peasant family as the moral foundation of the Aryan race. Wissel's most famous painting, Farm Family from Kahlenberg (1939), portrays a rural German family seated around a table in their modest but tidy home. The father is painted as a strong, protective figure, while the mother appears nurturing and modest, embodying the Nazi ideal of womanhood as the bearer of pure offspring. Their children, bright-eyed and clean, symbolize the future of the Aryan race. Each figure is perfectly composed to convey order, stability, and submission (Petropoulos, 2014). This idealized presentation of rural life echoes Mussolini's depiction of the "new Roman citizen" — a strong, obedient figure tied to land, tradition, and discipline. The glorification of rurality as 'eternal' and morally pure made the regime’s racist ideology appear woven into the visual fabric of everyday life, natural and inevitable. 

The Degenerate Art Exhibition (Entartete Kunst) was a Nazi-organized display designed to mock avant-garde movements like Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, and Dadaism. It labeled them as “degenerate” (entartete) and associated them with Jewish and anti-German ideologies. Led by Joseph Goebbels and the Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer), the exhibition aimed to promote Nazi-approved Heroic Realism while discrediting modernist aesthetics.

Public Ridicule of this work by Otto Dix, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, among others, was displayed in cramped, chaotic arrangements with degrading labels scrawled on the walls. The disorganized presentation symbolized moral and cultural decay, contrasting with the order and symmetry seen in Nazi-sponsored exhibits. In contrast to the Entartete Kunst exhibition, the Nazis also staged the Great German Art Exhibition to showcase state-sanctioned Heroic Realism, featuring idealized Aryan bodies, rural purity, and militarism. The goal was to create a stark visual contrast between "ideal" and "degenerate."

Despite its intent to discredit modernist art, the exhibition became one of the most visited exhibitions of its time, drawing over 2 million visitors, far surpassing attendance at the Nazi-sponsored Great German Art Exhibition and others like it. Many visitors came out of curiosity, with some developing a deeper appreciation for the displayed works. This paradox highlights the limits of cultural hegemony as resistance emerges where ideological control is insecure. By publicizing modernist art as "degenerate," the Nazis unintentionally increased its visibility, fostering resistance through exposure.

By using public humiliation as a strategy, the regime revealed its ideological insecurities. The Entartete Kunst exhibition is a prime example of how repression can backfire, giving anti-hegemonic art a platform to endure.

Franco’s Spain and Artistic Resistance

Francisco Franco's fascist dictatorship sought to restore traditional Spanish values through control of art, education, and media, mirroring similar efforts seen in Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. Franco's use of Catholic conservatism and nationalist ideology formed the ideological backbone of the regime, with art and culture serving as essential tools to promote this worldview. Unlike Italy and Germany, however, Franco’s regime relied more heavily on Catholic symbolism and nostalgic depictions of Spain’s imperial past, reinforcing his role as the "savior" of Spain from chaos, Communism, and modernist decadence (Basilio, 2002). 

Basilio in Genealogies for a New State: Painting and Propaganda in Franco's Spain, 1936-1940 found that under Franco’s rule, Dirección General de Prensa (General Directorate of Press) held control over newspapers, books, and printed media. Using censorship and prior review, the regime ensured that only state-approved art and literature could be published. In the sector of film, similar to Mussolini’s Istituto Luce, No-Do (News and Documentaries) produced short newsreels that played before feature films in theaters, and became Franco’s primary cinematic propaganda tool. Every theater in Spain was legally required to show No-Do newsreels before feature films, meaning Spanish citizens were constantly exposed to the regime’s ideological messages. These reels glorified Franco, framing him as the protector of Spanish unity, guardian of the Catholic faith, and savior from Communist destruction; the reels highlighted a pedestal of economic progress (Basilio, 2002). Again, as the propaganda appears woven into the visual fabric of everyday life, it becomes natural and inevitable. Exemplifying the invisible hegemony of fascist art. 

Franco sponsored public exhibitions and fairs that focused on religion and what he deemed to be traditional Spanish art while simultaneously condemning modernism and avant-garde art as forms of cultural degradation linked to Communism and foreign ideologies. Similar to the Heroic Realism seen in Nazi Germany, Franco's regime glorified themes of rural purity, religious devotion, and national unity. Franco sought to highlight his perceived hierarchy of family, faith, and obedience to the state. This visual propaganda often depicted peasants, Catholic martyrs, and military figures as symbols of Spain’s moral foundation (Basilio, 2002). Art commissions by the regime frequently highlighted idealized rural families, in line with the blood and soil concept seen in Germany. 

While some artists conformed to Franco’s vision, many others faced intense scrutiny. Under Ley de Prensa (Press Law of 1938), books, magazines, and paintings were reviewed by government censors. Artists who defied this control were blacklisted, imprisoned, or forced into exile. Like Nazi Germany's Reichskulturkammer, in the Spanish regime, artists were forced to register with state cultural organizations, ensuring that only approved artists could exhibit their work publicly. Many creators, especially in written text or poetry, practiced auto-censorship, altering their works to meet state approval, though subversive messages were often subtly embedded in their words (Basilio, 2002).

While Franco's control of art was extensive, counter-hegemonic art still thrived. Salvador Dalí initially aligned himself with Franco's regime, yet his surrealist works often included symbolic critiques of authoritarianism. Works like The Persistence of Memory (1931), which depicts melting clocks; challenge time, order, and control, contrasting sharply with Franco’s promotion of an eternal Spain. Some of his other works with grotesque imagery, distorted bodies, chaos, and violence were representative of the Civil War; these depictions symbolize moral disintegration caused by war and held prominent anti-war themes (Basilio, 2002). 

Luis Buñuel was another prominent and influential figure in anti-Franco artistic resistance, whose work in films, like Viridiana (1961), exposed the hypocrisy of Catholic morality under Franco. Buñuel was a self-proclaimed Marxist and an outspoken critic of authoritarian rule; he worked to expose the contradictions within dominant Francoist ideologies. Instead of overtly attacking Franco, his films used satirical, symbolic subversion to comment on the absurdity of power. The Vatican denounced Viridiana, and Franco’s censors banned most of his work. Still, his most influential film was released at the Cannes Film Festival, revealing the limits of censorship in a globalized world. Buñuel's surrealist cinema rejected the state's logic of unity and tradition, offering audiences an alternative vision of reality (Basilio, 2002). 

These two artists, and hundreds of others, not only challenged Franco's visual hegemony but also exposed the contradictions and insecurities inherent in totalitarian control. By using surrealism, dissonance, and symbolic critique, their work offered alternative visions of reality, disrupting the common sense that Franco sought to impose. These artistic acts of defiance highlighted the fragility of fascist hegemony, showing that total control of society is never absolute.

Key Takeaway

While Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco each approached cultural propaganda with distinct national aesthetics, they all shared the strategy of blending national imagery with state ideology. In Portugal, Salazar adopted a similar approach. His SPN mirrored Mussolini's Istituto Nazionale di Cultura Fascista in its oversight of visual art. Like Hitler’s campaign against degenerate art and the promotion of heroic realism, Salazar's Estado Novo suppressed modernist and avant-garde movements, reinforcing hegemony through aesthetic control. Similar to Franco, Salazar relied on Catholic iconography, embedding religious values into the core of his nationalist narrative. These parallels depict a shared reliance on propaganda art to control the general society. By shaping public imagination through state ideology, these regimes turned culture into a governing tool. This context on propaganda and that of resistant artists allows us to better understand the framework for analyzing similar methods and ideologies throughout Salazar’s Estado Novo. 

Contextualization of the Estado Novo

Salazar's Rise to Power 

In 1910, Portugal’s First Republic overthrew an 800-year-old monarchy, leading to political and economic chaos, frequent government changes, and citizens' struggle for survival. Ahead of this coup d’etat, Portugal declared bankruptcy several times; frequent budget deficits and a weak monarchy led to pessimism in the country’s financial situation. Living and working conditions among the poor were worsening as rapid and intensive urbanization of Lisboa and Porto led to overcrowding, hunger, and terrible living conditions, with high incidences of diseases such as tuberculosis. Peasants worked seventeen to eighteen hours a day and were paid starvation wages. Citizens often had to rely on communitarian practices of pooling income, resources, and food among villagers. (Wheeler, 1978) For most people, hunger became a daily struggle, rarely mitigated. The laboring class, which held a majority of citizens at the time, had to struggle for survival. (Guimarães, 2023)

Globally, Fascist movements were on the rise. “Republicans” made their name in Portugal, but the political instability characterized by frequent governmental turnovers and economic crises made way for a new type of leader. Economy professor at the University of Coimbra, António de Oliveira Salazar, was offered the cabinet post of Minister of Finance in 1928 by the standing president Óscar Carmona. In this position, he held complete control of the government’s income and expenditures, slightly raising morale based on finance. (Pinto & Adinolfi, 2014)

In 1932, Salazar was appointed Prime Minister by Carmona. The Estado Novo (New State) comes to life. Inspired by Mussolini’s Italy and other fascist global movements, Salazar’s ideological framework of authoritarianism and blended Catholic values shaped his vision of the state. Salazar envisioned a corporatist state where economic sectors of labor, business, agriculture, and cultural production, or art, were controlled by state institutions instead of being left to the free market. By tightly controlling labor and business, class struggle would theoretically be suppressed. Instead, in practice, the government maintained the guise of stability while eroding individual citizen’s freedoms. A new constitution was drafted that reorganized Portugal's political system along authoritarian lines, influenced by catholic and national thought. The national assembly was comprised only of government supporters– those who Salazar appointed and whose work he closely supervised (Castro-Leal, 2016). In the control of labor, unions were banned, or when sprouted, they were tightly controlled. Strikes, which were previously frequent throughout the country, were illegal (Pereira).

With political freedoms curtailed, military police called Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado (PIDE), translated to– International Police and Defence of the State, repressed dissidents and became a central instrument of violence and oppression against political opponents. Salazar also implemented The Guarda Nacional Republicana or GNR (for control of rural disturbances), the Polícia de Segurança Publica or PSP (for public demonstrations), the Guarda Fiscal (fiscal police), and the Polícia Judiciária PJ (Judicial Police) (Chilcote, 2012). In the New State, individuals alleged to disagree with Salazar would often disappear without warning, many never to be seen again. PIDE had a history of violence, torture, cruelty, and oppression. (Pimentel, 2012). With responsibilities as domestic enforcers of censorship and fear, PIDE also heavily monitored Portugal’s African colonies– Angola, Mocambique, and Guinnea-Bissau to ensure colonial exploitation continued unabated as they worked to suppress any movements towards independence (Rodrigues, 2012). 

In written testimony from political prisoners, haunting descriptions of mental and physical torture run rampant. Some depict their time at Tarrafal, the most notorious Portuguese concentration camp, where revolting military officers, republicans, communists, and other opposition figures, especially from the African colonies, were sent. Tarrafal was built and operated similarly to camps run by the Nazi regime– Tarrafal management, including senior officers and guards, even visited Nazi concentration camps for so-called “training courses.” To this day, no perpetrators from Tarrafal have been convicted of their crimes. (Tarrafal)

Salazar’s New State operated with the fervor of other fascist governments of the time, focusing entirely on "militarism, territorial expansion, [and] revolutionizing society or asserting ethnic supremacy" (Gallagher, 2020). Still, for much of his reign, Salazar had spectacular P.R. overseas. In 1962, Life magazine called him "by far the world's best dictator" and the "greatest Portuguese since Prince Henry the Navigator." (Life, 1962)

Salazar’s regime relied heavily on the economic exploitation of its African colonies—Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau—to sustain the Estado Novo and maintain Portugal’s financial “stability”. As Portugal faced growing international pressure for decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s, Salazar remained adamant in his refusal to grant independence, seeing the colonies as vital to the regime's political legitimacy and economic survival. Salazar's famous statement, “Portugal is not a small country” reflected his determination to maintain the illusion of a grand Portuguese empire. By 1961, this imperialist stance would lead to protracted, violent colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau (Cairo, 2006).

Colonial exploitation was entrenched in the forced labor of African populations and the systematic extraction of raw materials. Crops like cotton, coffee, and sugar, along with mining operations for diamonds and other natural resources, were essential to holding up the Portuguese economy. Much of the wealth extracted from African colonies was funneled directly into Portugal's state banks to offset the economic deficits caused by Salazar’s policies of isolation and protectionism. This process is often called economic colonialism, where the colonies existed not as autonomous regions but as revenue streams to support the fascist regime (Cairo, 2006).

This strategy allowed Salazar to present an image of Portuguese national progress despite the forced veil of suffering and exploitation of colonized peoples. While many European empires moved toward decolonization after World War II, Salazar doubled down on his rhetoric of pluricontinental Portugal, claiming that Portugal's colonies were not foreign territories but integral parts of the Portuguese nation. In reality, this rhetoric masked the oppressive nature of Portuguese rule, as colonial subjects were treated as second-class citizens under legal framework (Cairo, 2006). With that in mind, even citizens within the “homeland” were treated more as animals than human beings. At the end of Salazar’s regime in 1969, 40% of Portugal’s towns lacked electricity, and three-fourths had no running water. (Times, 1969) For reference, in the same year, only 5% of French homes lacked running water.

After 40 years of autocratic rule, Salazar’s health declined in the late 1960s. In 1968, he suffered a debilitating stroke that left him incapacitated. Despite this, Salazar was not immediately removed from power. For several years, his ministers continued to operate under the illusion that he was still in charge, as they feared the political instability his removal might cause. Finally, President Américo Thomaz officially declared Salazar incapacitated and appointed Marcello Caetano as his successor. By 1974, decades of repression, censorship, and endless colonial wars had caused growing dissent in Portugal. Tired of fighting in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau, soldiers became central to the revolution. On April 25, 1974, elements of the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) staged a coup d'état that would become known as the Carnation Revolution. Soldiers and citizens flooded the streets, placing red carnations into the barrels of soldiers' rifles, a symbol of peaceful resistance. The revolution was virtually bloodless, and within 24 hours, the Estado Novo was overthrown. Marcello Caetano surrendered and was sent into exile in Brazil. The PIDE was disbanded, political prisoners were freed, and the new leadership, led by General Spínola, began decolonizing Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau (Noronha. 2023).

The Carnation Revolution represented a victory for artistic freedom. The arts that had been suppressed under Salazar’s regime flourished in post-revolution. And Zeca Afonso’s song “Grândola, Vila Morena” became the official anthem. As soldiers occupied government buildings, Portuguese radio stations played Afonso's song, signaling the beginning of the coup. This moment is a prime example of how music, art, and cultural resistance can become powerful tools for social change.

Art, Propaganda, and Censorship in Salazar’s Estado Novo

The Estado Novo under Salazar provides a striking example of Antonio Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony in practice, where power is not just maintained through coercion but through the consent of the masses. By shaping the cultural imagination, Salazar’s regime disguised its control as natural and inevitable. Through mechanisms like the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional (SPN), Salazar curated Portugal's cultural and artistic identity, transforming art into a vehicle of state ideology. Artforms such as Fado music, the Verde Gaio folk dance troupe, public exhibitions, and state-controlled radio broadcasts were carefully created to foster obedience, submission, and the glorification of rural, Catholic values. But as Gramsci argued, hegemony is never absolute. Beneath the surface, Portuguese artists engaged in subtle forms of resistance, challenging the Estado Novo’s grip on cultural production (Moreira, 2022).

The Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional (SPN), established in 1933, was the Estado Novo’s primary propaganda arm, responsible for overseeing Portugal’s cultural and artistic output. Often compared to Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, Moussolini’s Nazionale di Cultura Fascista, the SPN controlled advertising, public exhibitions, visual arts, performance, and international portrayals of Portuguese identity. António Ferro, a former journalist and cultural theorist, was president of the SPN, and where he carefully crafted a unified image of Portugal as a, rural and timeless nation rooted in Catholic virtues. Through exhibitions and celebrations like the Mundo Português (Portuguese World Exposition) in 1940, the regime showcased its colonial empire and promoted its narrative of Portugal as a pluri-continental nation. The exposition framed Portugal as a powerful, historic force in world history. Such exhibitions were not just symbolic events but cultural touchpoints that ingrained ideological themes into the public imagination and consciousness. The SPN also supervised artistic commissions, particularly in architecture and public works (Moreira, 2022). 

One of the most effective cultural tools under the SPN was the Verde Gaio dance troupe, a state-sponsored folkloric performance group that embodied the Estado Novo’s vision of a “pure” Portuguese identity. Verde Gaio was not simply a celebration of traditional Portuguese dance. Instead, it was a calculated performance of nationalism, rurality, and Catholic virtue. The SPN framed Verde Gaio as a symbol of Portugal’s cultural "authenticity," portraying rural folk traditions as eternal and unchanged. Verde Gaio dancers, dressed in traditional peasant attire, performed carefully curated dances that depicted harmonious rural life, portraying rural Portugal as eternal, orderly, and free from conflict. By romanticizing rural life, Salazar diverted attention from the realities of urban poverty, industrialization, and class struggle (Roubaud, 2003).

No art form was more emblematic of Estado Novo's hegemony than Fado music. Originally emerging from Portugal’s lower-class neighborhoods, Fado tells stories of longing, fate, and heartbreak, with themes of “saudade” (a deep, melancholic longing for something lost). Under Salazar, however, Fado was repurposed as a nationalist art form to convey messages of resignation and submission. The Estado Novo’s control over Fado was achieved through the SPN, that imposed strict censorship on lyrics and managed the careers of popular Fado singers. Amália Rodrigues, Portugal’s “Sweetheart”, became a cultural icon under the regime. Her songs of saudade embodied the Portuguese national spirit, beneath the surface, they carried messages of resistance. While Salazar appreciated her music as a symbol of Portuguese pride and nostalgia, Rodrigues’ choice of songwriters, like leftist poets and activists, allowed covert critiques of the regime to slip into the popular imagination (Carvalho, 2012).

Gramsci’s concept of naturalized ideology is evident in how the Estado Novo framed Fado as “the music of the people.” By turning Fado into a state-controlled cultural product, the regime fostered a sense of acceptance in Portugal’s suffering. The idea that hardships were inevitable and part of Portugal’s cultural DNA served to discourage rebellion (Carvalho, 2012). In this way, Fado became an auditory metaphor for submission to fate, effectively encouraging the Portuguese public to accept their suffering as natural.

The SPN was the regime's cultural force, and censorship was its primary tool of repression. The Estado Novo enforced censorship through the infamous Lápis Azul (Blue Pencil) system, where sensors used blue pencils to strike through what was perceived to be dangerous passages in books, newspapers, and film scripts. Content that was deemed subversive or immoral was either deleted or never published. Censorship was justified by the Estado Novo as a way to protect the moral integrity of Portuguese citizens. However, in practice, it was a means to suppress political dissent and maintain social control (Ribeiro, 2014). “Passar a crítica” ("to undergo critique") was the process of submitting creative works for censorship before publication. Writers, musicians, artists and filmmakers had to submit their works for pre-approval. This system not only repressed dissident voices but also forced auto-censorship, as artists would avoid controversial topics in order to secure publication. This self-regulation limited the scope of critical thought and creative freedom (Ribeiro, 2017).

Radio broadcasts were also heavily regulated, with specific times when citizens could access broadcasts including news and music, only via state-controlled frequencies. Limited paper supplies for newspapers were also cited as justification for censoring reports, especially international ones during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. In effect, the regime constructed an information vacuum, where Portuguese citizens had little access to uncensored news from both within the country and abroad (Garcia, 2017).

Literature Review Conclusion:

The cultural battle between propaganda and resistance continues to be a vital aspect of understanding the Estado Novo. Fado, Verde Gaio, public exhibitions, and the Lápis Azul censorship system functioned as tools of hegemony. However, despite the regime's efforts, resistance persisted. By controlling art, the Estado Novo aimed to control the soul of Portugal, but in the end, it was through art and song that the regime fell. Covert acts of symbolic subversion challenged the Estado Novo from within, proving that cultural control is never absolute. 

In Salazar's Estado Novo, artists like Zeca Afonso and Amália Rodrigues used music to smuggle subversive ideas into Fado songs. Though the Estado Novo’s Lápis Azul censorship system tried to erase these counter-hegemonic ideas, resistance endured. These acts of symbolic subversion will be analyzed in later case study sections of this thesis.

Gap Analysis

While existing studies on Portuguese fascism address propaganda, censorship, and the regime’s political history, the role of art as a space for subversion and resistance remains under-explored. Most analyses emphasize the SPN and Verde Gaio as symbols of propaganda but neglect to investigate how Portuguese artists subverted these same structures. This thesis builds on the work of Garcia et. al. (2017) but shifts attention toward subversion by artists like Zeca Afonso and Amália Rodrigues. By highlighting the blurred line between control and resistance, this study provides a new lens for understanding how art functions as a space for rebellion within authoritarian regimes. While previous scholarship has explored the SPN and Verde Gaio as symbols of cultural control, there is little analysis of how Portuguese artists used covert methods of resistance within these same cultural structures. This thesis addresses this gap by focusing on the strategies of resistance used by Amália Rodrigues, Zeca Afonso, and Paula Rego.

Hypothesis/Research Questions 

Research Questions

1. How did the Salazar regime influence artistic expression in Portugal?

This question aims to explore the extent and methods of Salazar's control over cultural production. By examining the role of the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional (SPN), and the Lápis Azul censorship system, the research will analyze how these institutions regulated the production and dissemination of art, literature, and music. 

1. In what ways did artists resist or conform to the political climate of the time?

While Salazar’s regime sought to control every facet of artistic production, artists like Amália Rodrigues, Zeca Afonso, and Paula Rego found ways to resist, subvert, or challenge hegemonic narratives. This question focuses on understanding the duality of art as both a tool for state propaganda and a medium for resistance. It will analyze the "ambiguous resistance" model, where artists working within state-sponsored frameworks subtly inserted messages of dissent into their works. 

1. What were the immediate and long-term impacts of the regime on Portuguese art?

This question investigates the enduring legacy of Salazar’s cultural policies on post-dictatorship Portuguese art. The immediate impacts include the flourishing of artistic expression following the Carnation Revolution of 1974, as artists who had been suppressed by censorship were finally able to express their creative freedom. The analysis will explore how the cultural landscape shifted from nationalist imagery to more experimental and politically charged art, focusing on the influence of Paula Rego’s feminist art. In addition, the long-term legacy of Salazar’s Estado Novo in Portuguese identity and national memory will be examined, particularly how nostalgia for rurality and "saudade" remains embedded in contemporary Portuguese cultural expression.

Hypotheses

1. The Salazar regime used art as a tool for propaganda to promote its ideology.

This hypothesis proposes that under the Estado Novo, Salazar utilized cultural production as a form of ideological control, enforcing narratives of rural purity, Catholic morality, and national pride. Through institutions like the SPN and Lapiz Azul, Salazar framed saudade as an authentic representation of Portuguese identity. By normalizing this image as natural and eternal, Salazar’s regime rendered its hegemony nearly invisible. The hypothesis will be tested by examining the regime’s use of cultural production within music, visual arts, and literature.

1. Despite censorship, some artists found ways to subtly resist and critique the regime through their work.

This hypothesis argues that while Estado Novo’s censorship mechanisms (like Lápis Azul) sought to erase dissent, artists still found creative methods to challenge authority. By working within the constraints of the regime’s cultural guidelines, artists like Amália Rodrigues, Zeca Afonso, and Paula Rego embedded counter-hegemonic narratives into their work. For instance, the saudade of Fado, which the Estado Novo presented as a nationalist symbol, was reinterpreted by artists to reflect the longing for freedom and resistance against repression. This hypothesis will be tested through textual and lyrical analysis of songs, and close readings of Paula Rego’s visual art.

1. The fall of the Salazar regime led to a significant transformation in the artistic landscape of Portugal.

This hypothesis suggests that the Carnation Revolution of 1974 marked a turning point for Portuguese art, leading to an explosion of creative freedom. Artists who had been constrained under Salazar’s regime were now free to engage with previously censored themes, such as anti-colonialism, gender, and class struggle. The hypothesis will examine the immediate post-revolution artistic movements, the role of music, and the evolution of modern Portuguese visual arts. The long-term impacts on Portuguese art will also be analyzed, focusing on how the post-Salazar generation of artists broke free from the cultural constraints imposed by the Estado Novo.

Justification for Research Questions and Hypotheses

The research questions and hypotheses outlined above address the central concern of this thesis: how art functions as both a tool of authoritarian propaganda and a medium of resistance. By exploring the mechanisms of state control, the resistant role of artists, and the post-revolution legacy of artistic expression, this study will contribute to the broader understanding of art, creation, and cultural production under authoritarian rule.

These questions are relevant for several key reasons:

1. Historical Relevance: Understanding how Salazar’s regime controlled cultural production provides insight into broader trends in authoritarian governance and the use of power to maintain hegemony. The Estado Novo’s efforts to frame Portugal’s cultural identity through rurality, Catholicism, and tradition offer a model for understanding cultural repression in other totalitarian contexts.

2. Theoretical Significance: The research builds on Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, which proposes that ideological power is sustained through cultural production, not just coercion. By applying this theory to the case of Portugal’s Estado Novo, this study advances discussions on the nature of cultural power and artistic subversion.

3. Contemporary Relevance: The impact of Salazar’s regime on Portuguese culture is still visible in modern Portuguese identity. The legacy of saudade, and the long-term effects of colonial exploitation continue to shape contemporary Portuguese cultural expression. This research provides a deeper understanding of how colonialism and dictatorship leave lasting imprints on national identity and cultural production.

4. Contribution to the Field of Art and Politics: While many studies on authoritarian regimes focus on political history, this research emphasizes the cultural dimension of power. It highlights how state-sponsored art can normalize oppressive ideologies and how artists can resist through symbolic critique. By analyzing symbolic subversion this study offers a comprehensive case study of how artistic resistance emerges under conditions of repression.

Research Design

Methodological Approach 

The methodological approach for this study is primarily qualitative, with an emphasis on archival research and case study analysis. A qualitative approach allows for a deep exploration of the symbolic, cultural, and ideological meanings embedded in art, as well as an analysis of the lived experiences of artists who resisted the Estado Novo. Archival research is essential for accessing primary sources such as government records, propaganda materials, SPN (Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional) documents, and censorship records related to the Lápis Azul system. These materials provide direct insight into how the regime controlled cultural production and enforced censorship. Additionally, by examining newspaper clippings, propaganda posters, and state-sponsored art, this study can better understand how art functioned as a tool of hegemony. By focusing on artists like Amália Rodrigues, Zeca Afonso, Paula Rego, José Almada Negreiros, and Simone de Oliveira, the study highlights how individual acts of resistance challenged the hegemony of the Estado Novo. Case studies provide a contextualized understanding of how art operates as both propaganda and resistance, enabling a comparison between cultural control and subversion.

Case Studies

"Art as Propaganda vs. Art as Resistance"

Art During the Salazar Regime 

Paula Rego

Paula Rego’s visual language is grounded in storytelling and subversion, her visual style often draws from fairy tales, myths, and Portuguese folklore, using their familiar structure to embed unsettling narratives that reveal hidden violence and repression. Her works frequently center on female protagonists, who appear caught in cycles of obedience and defiance, reflecting the contradictions of life under authoritarian control.

A key aspect of Rego’s work are her "feminine" archetypes. She challenges representations of women as passive figures, transforming them into agents of rebellion. Her characters—often depicted in domestic spaces— suggest that private spaces are also political battlegrounds. Her works, such as "The Family" (1988), present women in positions of physical dominance, directly inverting traditional gender power hierarchies. This reversal of power calls into question the patriarchal control that was central to Salazar’s ideology.

Paula Rego’s work deliberately countered the portrayals of life presented by Salazar’s Estado Novo. Her paintings brought to light the hypocrisy and violence embedded within the social order. Her works did not directly attack Salazar himself, but they did critique the symbolic structures that supported his regime, such as family, religion, and female obedience. Paula Rego’s feminist critique of Estado Novo’s patriarchal control is perhaps best illustrated in her series of paintings known as Dog Women (1994). In these works, women are depicted in animalistic postures, crawling, crouching, and howling— crucially, Rego’s "dog women" are not portrayed as helpless. Instead, they embody raw strength, resilience, and independence. This duality of submission and defiance reflects the condition of Portuguese women under Salazar’s regime. While women were officially relegated to the domestic sphere, Rego’s paintings expose their inner rebellion, suggesting that subservience can be a mask for resistance. Her choice of animals as protagonists is a notable aspect of her symbolic approach. The animal figures in works like "Dog Women" symbolize the dehumanization of women under patriarchal and state authority. By portraying women as dogs, Rego highlights how authoritarian control reduces people to obedient, animal-like subordinates. 

Paula Rego’s symbolic language is one of her most effective tools for resistance, rather than engaging in direct political critique, she embeds resistance within her imagery, making it difficult for censors to identify subversive elements. During Salazar’s rule, this strategy was vital for artists who wished to avoid censorship.

Amália Rodrigues

Amália Rodrigues, often regarded as the Queen of Fado, stands as a paradoxical figure in Portuguese cultural history. While she was embraced as a national icon and her music was used by Salazar's regime to symbolize the Portuguese spirit, her personal beliefs and subtle acts of subversion reveal a more complex narrative. Her music, rooted in the genre of Fado, was seen as a representation of Portuguese national identity, but Rodrigues used the melancholic themes of saudade (longing) as a form of quiet rebellion.

Rodrigues’ subversive resistance lies in her choice of songwriters and poets. By collaborating with leftist writers and poets like Ary dos Santos and using lyrics that indirectly criticized the socio-political climate of Portugal, she managed to introduce subtle elements of defiance into her songs. Tracks like Estranha Forma de Vida (1954) use metaphorical language to challenge themes of submission, fate, and destiny—concepts that were essential to the Estado Novo’s narrative of passive obedience.

Amália's voice became a symbol of Portugal’s struggles, and her performances at home and abroad resonated with the Portuguese diaspora, many of whom had fled Salazar’s repression. Her concerts in Paris and Brazil exposed international audiences to the deeper, unspoken emotional realities of Portuguese life under authoritarian rule. Even though the regime appropriated her image as a symbol of national pride, her work simultaneously reflected the emotional burden of repression felt by the Portuguese people (Dias, 2019).

Her subversion was not always overt, but it was undeniably present. Her refusal to engage with Salazar's government and her support for anti-fascist figures and poets demonstrated her alignment with anti-authoritarian movements (Franco, 2021). After the fall of the Estado Novo, Amália Rodrigues faced criticism for being too close to the regime, but further analysis of her lyrics, collaborators, and performances reveals her as a cultural figure who skillfully navigated the line between conformity and resistance. Through her voice, Amália offered a form of solace and hope, planting the seeds of quiet rebellion in the hearts of her listeners.

Zeca Afonso

Zeca Afonso is arguably one of the most overtly rebellious cultural figures of the Estado Novo era. Unlike Amália Rodrigues, who navigated the regime's constraints with subtlety, Afonso's resistance was loud, direct, and undeniable. His music became synonymous with Portugal's anti-fascist movement, with his most famous song, "Grândola, Vila Morena," becoming the unofficial anthem of the Carnation Revolution of 1974.

Afonso’s lyrics were filled with political critique, social commentary, and calls for action. Drawing from the Portuguese folk tradition but infusing it with revolutionary spirit, his songs called attention to inequality, colonial oppression, and the failures of the Estado Novo. His work rejected the melancholic fatalism that characterized Fado, opting instead for songs filled with hope, defiance, and action. His music was considered so dangerous to the regime that his songs were banned from broadcast on national radio, and public performances of his work were often interrupted or shut down by PIDE, Salazar’s secret police (Mailer, 1977).

The most powerful act of subversion linked to Zeca Afonso was his role in the Carnation Revolution. On the night of April 24, 1974, Radio Renascença played "Grândola, Vila Morena" as a coded signal to the Portuguese Armed Forces Movement (MFA) that it was time to initiate the coup against the Estado Novo. This act of resistance, carried out in real time, directly led to the end of Salazar's regime. The choice of "Grândola, Vila Morena" as the signal was significant. The song celebrates the unity and fraternity of a small rural town, with the refrain, "O povo é quem mais ordena" ("The people are the ones who command"), a direct challenge to the hierarchical, authoritarian structure of Salazar’s Portugal.

Zeca Afonso's legacy as a revolutionary artist is unmatched. He was not merely a musician but a cultural catalyst for change. His lyrics, voice, and participation in the revolution made him a living symbol of Portuguese resistance. Unlike Paula Rego’s coded critique or Amália Rodrigues’ subtle disobedience, Afonso's resistance was undeniable, direct, and explicitly linked to revolution.

José Almada Negreiros

José Almada Negreiros was a painter, muralist, poet, and literary figure who emerged as a modernist force of resistance against the traditionalist artistic framework imposed by Salazar's Estado Novo. As a member of the Orpheu generation, a Portuguese modernist art and literary movement, Negreiros sought to break from classical art conventions and engage with European avant-garde styles, a move that the Estado Novo deemed dangerous to its rigid nationalist vision (Dix, 2017).

One of his most famous works of subversion was his series of murals in the Lisbon Maritime Station. While these murals appear to celebrate Portuguese maritime history—a concept central to Estado Novo's ideology of Portugal as a "pluricontinental" empire—Negreiros' artistic choices challenged the regime's aesthetic expectations. His modernist visual style, use of abstraction, and non-linear narrative structure contrasted with the state-mandated Heroic Realism promoted by the SPN. Not only was the artistic style a subversion, but the imagery itself raises questions of alliance. Negreiros, created art that demanded interpretation, thought, and imagination—subtle acts of resistance that eluded the regime's censors.

His written works also criticized the Estado Novo’s embrace of rurality as the authentic Portuguese identity. His avant-garde poetry, filled with abstraction and fragmented imagery, rejected the notion of rural simplicity, offering instead a vision of modern, cosmopolitan Portugal. As a multi-disciplinary artist, Negreiros played a role in fostering artistic rebellion on multiple fronts. While his murals technically fell within the regime’s guidelines of patriotic art, his works’ defiance of artistic convention became, in itself, a statement of resistance.

His influence on future generations of Portuguese artists cannot be overstated. By refusing to conform to aesthetic expectations, Almada Negreiros challenged the idea that art must serve the state. His works later became beacons of inspiration for post-revolutionary Portuguese art, where abstraction, surrealism, and modernism flourished as acts of liberation.

Simone de Oliveira

Simone de Oliveira is a celebrated Portuguese singer and actress whose career spanned the height of the Estado Novo regime. Best known for her performance of “Desfolhada Portuguesa” at the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, she became a household name and a cultural figure with symbolic weight. While her outward appearance was that of a glamorous, state-approved public figure, her performance of “Desfolhada Portuguesa” carried deeper, subversive undertones.

The song, written by José Carlos Ary dos Santos, used themes of agricultural harvest and fertility, which on the surface seemed compatible with the Estado Novo's glorification of rural labor and family values. However, its double meanings were clear to many listeners. The term "desfolhada" (the act of removing corn husks) hinted at themes of feminine liberation and sensuality, ideas that clashed with Salazar’s rigid view of gender roles. The regime promoted women as wives and mothers, devoted to family and the nation. By presenting women as autonomous and desiring figures, Simone’s performance challenged the moral orthodoxy of the regime.

Her performance at Eurovision, a stage of global visibility, also acted as an assertion of Portuguese modernity. While Salazar sought to portray Portugal as an isolated, rural nation, Oliveira’s glamorous performance on the international stage showed a different image of Portuguese culture—one that was modern, sophisticated, and unafraid of female power. After the Estado Novo fell, she continued to be recognized as an artist who subtly, but bravely, opposed the regime.

Mário Cesariny

Mário Cesariny was a surrealist poet, painter, and a central figure of the Portuguese surrealist movement. Unlike more subtle subversions, Cesariny’s surrealism was an open critique of Salazar’s vision for Portugal. Surrealism, by nature, opposed the logic, order, and rationality championed by authoritarian regimes. Salazar promoted a worldview centered on Catholic values, family stability, and rural simplicity. Cesariny's surrealist works, filled with images of chaos, dreamscapes, and fragmented bodies, represented a direct affront to these ideals.

Through his poetry and visual art, Cesariny explored themes of sexual freedom, imagination, and subconscious desire. By celebrating the irrational, he undermined the "common sense" logic that Salazar imposed on Portuguese citizens. While Salazar's propaganda claimed Portugal was a harmonious, orderly society, Cesariny's works revealed the fractures, contradictions, and subconscious fears within it.

His work was censored, and his association with anti-fascist intellectuals made him a target of PIDE. But despite repression, Cesariny's legacy remains one of bold artistic defiance. His works continue to be studied as a crucial part of Portuguese counter-hegemonic art.

Post-Salazar Artistic Landscape 

The Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, marked a turning point in Portuguese art, culture, and society. The revolution not only dismantled the Estado Novo’s authoritarian rule but also liberated Portuguese artists from the censorship, repression, and ideological constraints that had stifled creative expression for decades. The fall of Salazar’s regime allowed for a cultural rebirth, as artists could finally explore new themes, techniques, and styles without fear of persecution.

One of the most immediate effects of the revolution was the resurgence of politically charged art. Street murals, posters, and graffiti became prominent tools for political expression, especially in the early days following the coup. Inspired by revolutionary fervor, artists used public spaces to promote socialist, anti-colonial, and pro-democracy messages. Political slogans such as O Povo Unido Jamais Será Vencido (The People United Will Never Be Defeated) became iconic images on walls and public buildings, reflecting the collective optimism of the Portuguese people.

Visual artists like Júlio Pomar and cartoonists like João Abel Manta took advantage of the newfound freedom of expression, using satire, political commentary, and social critique to confront issues that had been suppressed under Salazar's regime. Pomar's politically charged works, such as his famous "O Almoço do Trolha" (1975), depicted working-class figures in ways that emphasized labor rights and social justice, reflecting the socialist ideals that emerged in the post-revolution period. Similarly, Manta's satirical cartoons critiqued the Estado Novo’s legacy and its impact on Portuguese society, offering sharp critiques of social hierarchy, wealth inequality, and colonialism.

The revolution also had a significant impact on Portugal’s music scene. With the fall of censorship, songs that had been banned or heavily restricted under Salazar were finally played openly on the radio. Zeca Afonso’s “Grândola, Vila Morena” — the very song that signaled the start of the revolution — became an enduring symbol of freedom and resistance. Musicians were no longer forced to sanitize their lyrics or submit their work to censors, which sparked a flourishing of politically conscious folk, rock, and protest music. Amália Rodrigues, once seen as an ambiguous figure under the Estado Novo, emerged as a more clearly independent cultural icon, as her earlier subversive choices were re-evaluated in the context of post-Salazar Portugal.

Perhaps the most significant impact of the Carnation Revolution on Portuguese art was the return of artists from exile. Figures like Mário Cesariny, who had been subject to surveillance and censorship under the Estado Novo, returned to the public sphere with renewed creative energy. Surrealist and avant-garde art movements flourished, and exhibitions once banned by the SPN (Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional) were held freely. Art institutions, which had previously been subject to state control, opened their doors to experimental, modernist, and avant-garde movements.

During this time of flourishing discussion through artwork, another key political intervention came from Paula Rego as her Abortion Series (1998), gained popularity, ultimately leading to a direct impact on Portuguese social policy. At the time, Portugal’s strict abortion laws reflected the Catholic morality imposed under the Estado Novo and continued after its fall. Rego’s stark, empathetic portrayal of women undergoing illegal abortions humanized the experience and contributed to public outcry for reform. Her works placed women’s suffering at the center of the conversation, and in 2007, Portugal legalized abortion through a national referendum. While this occurred decades after Salazar’s rule, Rego’s critique of Catholic morality—a legacy of the Estado Novo—is evident in this series.

Limitations and Delimitations 

1. Availability of Primary Sources: A significant limitation of this study is the restricted access to certain primary sources, particularly internal government documents and censorship records from the Salazar regime. Many of these materials are classified or stored in Portuguese national archives that may not be fully digitized or accessible online. Additionally, access to certain colonial records related to Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau is limited, as some of these documents were destroyed or remain classified.

2. Language Barrier: A substantial portion of the literature and archival materials is written in Portuguese. While I, the researcher, is fluent in the language and of Portuguese descent, I have grown up in the United States, there is a possibility that certain nuances or cultural references may have been lost or misinterpreted. This is especially true for the fact that expressions embedded in Fado lyrics and artistic works may carry subtextual meanings that are not immediately apparent to non-native speakers.

3. Subjectivity of Artistic Interpretation: Art, by its nature, is subject to interpretation. Different viewers, scholars, and critics may perceive the intent or meaning of artistic works differently. While this research draws from established interpretations, the inherently subjective nature of art analysis means that certain conclusions may not be universally accepted.

4. Time Constraints: Due to time constraints, this study focuses on specific case studies, particularly the works of Amália Rodrigues, Zeca Afonso, Paula Rego, Simone de Oliveira, and Mário Cesariny. While these figures offer rich insights into resistance and propaganda, other artists, genres, and artistic movements could provide further depth to the study if time allowed for broader exploration.

5. Scope of the Study: The study centers on visual arts, music, and limited performance art within the framework of the Estado Novo. Other cultural domains, such as literature, architecture, and theater, are only discussed where relevant but are not the primary focus of the study.

Discussion/Conclusion

This thesis has explored the intersection of politics and art under Salazar’s Estado Novo, revealing how authoritarian regimes use cultural production, art, as a mechanism of control, while simultaneously providing a platform for subversion and resistance. The research confirms that Salazar’s regime utilized art as a propaganda tool, particularly through institutions like the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional (SPN), which curated national identity, promoted Catholic virtue, and framed rural nostalgia as the essence of Portuguese culture. Simultaneously, resistance flourished in subtle and symbolic forms, as exemplified by the works of Paula Rego, Amália Rodrigues, Zeca Afonso, and José Almada Negreiros.

The findings highlight that Salazar's regime did not achieve complete cultural hegemony. Instead, it faced opposition from within its own propaganda system. While the SPN promoted Verde Gaio’s folkloric dances and "purified" Fado music, figures like Amália Rodrigues and Zeca Afonso used the very same cultural forms to embed subtle resistance. Fado, originally intended to symbolize Portuguese submission, became a site of quiet rebellion. The research also reveals that covert subversion existed within visual art, literature, and surrealist movements. 

These findings answer the research questions by revealing how Salazar’s regime influenced artistic production, how artists navigated and resisted the political climate of the time, and the lasting impact of this period on Portugal’s post-revolutionary artistic landscape. It is clear that art under the Estado Novo was both a site of hegemonic control and a battleground for subversive resistance. The fall of the regime in 1974 sparked an artistic renaissance in which previously suppressed voices could finally flourish, redefining Portuguese art with themes of revolution, freedom, and decolonization.

Interpretation of Results

The results offer critical insights into the dual role of art as both a mechanism for social control and an instrument of resistance. Salazar’s reliance on propaganda art follows Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, which argues that dominant powers maintain control not just through force but through ideological consent embedded in everyday life. By normalizing submission through art, music, and dance, the Estado Novo sought to present its ideology as natural and essential to Portuguese identity.

However, the research shows that this hegemony was never absolute. Artists like Zeca Afonso, Amália Rodrigues, and Paula Rego reveal how ideological control can be resisted from within. Afonso’s music subverted propaganda, while Paula Rego's symbolic visual language revealed the contradictions of patriarchal control. Rego's portrayal of women as both obedient and rebellious in her Dog Women series reflects the lived experience of Portuguese women under Salazar, offering a critique of gender roles and state power.

The results also emphasize the transformative impact of the Carnation Revolution on the Portuguese art world. With the end of censorship and the collapse of state control over cultural production, artists were able to freely explore previously taboo topics like colonial violence, anti-patriarchy, and social justice. Revolutionary street murals, the music of Zeca Afonso, and Paula Rego’s feminist critique of patriarchy symbolize this period of liberation. The art produced after 1974 reflects Portugal’s reconciliation with its authoritarian past and its renewed commitment to freedom, equality, and democracy.

Recommendations for Future Research

This thesis opens several pathways for future research on the relationship between art, politics, and resistance. Future studies could:

1. Expand on this Field of Study with Attention to Specific Art Forms

2. Focus on Visual Culture in Former Portuguese Colonies

3. Study the Pre- and Post-Revolution Lives of Resistance Artists

Final Thoughts

The story of Portuguese art under the Estado Novo is a testament to the enduring power of cultural resistance. In the face of censorship, repression, and ideological control, artists found ways to challenge the regime from within. Through music, painting, poetry, and dance, Portuguese artists critiqued the naturalized ideologies of rural nostalgia and suffering, Catholic submission, and patriarchal obedience that Salazar's regime sought to impose. They did so not with grand political statements but with subtle, symbolic, and emotionally resonant works of art.

This thesis demonstrates that art is never neutral. Whether it serves as propaganda or resistance, art– created by individuals who experience life during a specific period of time– plays a crucial role in shaping how societies see themselves, both through, and after an era of time. The experience of the Estado Novo offers a broader lesson about the power of cultural hegemony, where ideological messages were embedded in everyday symbols.

The Carnation Revolution allowed for the rebirth of free expression, and the Portuguese artistic landscape transformed from one of repression to one of radical openness. The revolution teaches us that art is not only a reflection of political power but also a powerful tool for transformation. The fact that Zeca Afonso’s Grândola, Vila Morena was used as the signal for the start of the revolution underscores the profound capacity of art to shift history. In an era where authoritarian control continues to rise globally, the lessons from Portuguese artists remain as relevant as ever. Art, in its quietest moments, carries the potential for the loudest revolutions.

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