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According to the analysis of Jacinto do Prado Coelho in Originalidade da literatura portuguesa, the portuguese collective consciousness has been built over time through a series of references from the literature. For a long time, portoguese historiography has used literature as its primary source: myths, memories and travel chronicles have contributed both to the construction of official history by the authorities and to what can be defined as the poetics of the nation – during the long time at the service of the Estado Novo and its propaganda of the imperial ideology. However, from 1974, in conjunction with the end of the salazarist dictatorship and the colonial war, the literature begins to narrate the moment of loss and the end of the long-lasting portuguese colonial tradition. Borrowing the expression of A.P. Ferreira and M.C. Ribeiro, the literature started to interrogate the spectres and fantasies of the empire. Therefore, building on the strong connection between portuguese literature, historiography and collective consciousness, this article presents a critical analysis of the novel O retorno by Dulce Maria Cardoso, which seeks to investigate and analyse the remains of the empire.