It is Asterix in Lusitania Will he also be a bit of an ambassador for Portugal in France, and in fact with everyone in the world who reads the Gallic’s adventures?
I have no doubt – and a good Ambassador.
What did you feel was most Portuguese in the book?
The entire album is delicious, even in its intentional and fun anachronisms. I retain as more “Portuguese”, perhaps the subtle combination of melancholic sadness and hope that characterizes us and that so impresses the well-intentioned and innocent Obélix.
The launch at the embassy in Paris was due to the feeling that this comic book contributes to the softpower Portuguese?
This contribution is evident, but it is essentially due to the will of the editors. It was an opportunity that we took advantage of, free of charge.
There is curiosity in the Portuguese and Portuguese-descendant community about this Asterix in Lusitania?
Immense; The new album has been impatiently awaited for weeks. We all wondered about the portrait of Lusitânia that Fabcaro and Conrad would paint. The result is excellent.
From what you know about the History of France, do you notice points of contact between the Gauls and the Lusitanians, especially in the resistance to the Romans?
Yes. The authors evoke Viriathus, looking for a name, a Portuguese symbol for resistance to the Roman Empire, to hostile invasions. Again, Viriathus was not a contemporary, so to speak, of Asterix, but it is a happy anachronism for this purpose.
As a reader of Asterix, what captivates you most about the famous Gallic village?
Difficult question… the humor, obviously, the magic of a fiction that incorporates menhirs, magic potions, frightened legionnaires and inseparable friends. That’s it – the saga of Asterix is a hymn to friendship.
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