Transnational networks: (imagined) representations of the Portuguese liberal revolution by the British press
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The Oxford Journal, on 23 September 1820, subjoined part of the Proclamation of the Provisional Junta to the Portuguese nation citing “The Extraordinary” Gazette of Lisbon, news which had also been previously communicated by the Moniteur de Paris. Other newspapers, such as The Morning Chronicle, devoted more lines to the event as they published the complete Proclamation text. News of the revolution in Portugal only reached Britain a couple of weeks after the event via the European press, namely the abovementioned Portuguese periodical and the French papers. Liberal winds of change were spreading throughout Europe and Britain was not an exception. Despite its consolidated constitutional tradition, Britain still struggled with the political and social injustice of an underrepresented Parliament. It is no surprise then the promotion of a discourse sustaining Parliamentary Reform so to change the current political status quo. This discourse found also resonance in the British Press which, in 1820, enjoyed some reasonable freedom. However, it was not only exempt from the influence of “specific political conditions” (Bantman, 2018), which swayed the editorial line of the newspapers and periodicals, but it was also dependent on the political party the papers were associated with, either Tory or Whig supported, or adopting a more radical stance.
The purpose of this paper is thus two-fold. On the one hand, we shall identify the type of discourse disseminated by the British newspapers concerning the Portuguese Liberal revolution, analysing the representations constructed around this specific event. On the other, we shall analyse the impact of transnational networks, discernible in the press field, in regards the accuracy of the news conveyed to reading communities and the circulation of liberal ideals.
