The Author: Margarida Rendeiro graduated in Modern Languages and Literatures at the Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, in 1991. She gained her Master’s Degree in Anglo-American Studies from the same Faculty in 1996 and her Ph.D. in Portuguese Studies from King’s College, London, in 2008. Assistant Professor for Business English at Lusíada University and researcher of the CEPESE (Study Centre of the Population, Economy and Society). Her research interests are Contemporary Portuguese Culture and Literature.

• Contents: Literature as an Institution: Systems Theory – Education and Readership at the Service of Politics during the Estado Novo (1933-1974) – Literary Canon and Ideology in the Formation of Cultural Identity during the Estado Novo – Compromise and Autonomy in Consecration during the Estado Novo – Politics, Economy and Social Environment as Constraints on the Constitution of Readership between 1974 and 2004 – Consecration and Legitimacy in the Portuguese Literary Field between 1974 and 2004 – José Saramago and José Luís Peixoto: Two Case Studies of Literary Legitimacy and Consecration.

The Author: Margarida Rendeiro graduated in Modern Languages and Literatures at the Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, in 1991. She gained her Master’s Degree in Anglo-American Studies from the same Faculty in 1996 and her Ph.D. in Portuguese Studies from King’s College, London, in 2008. Assistant Professor for Business English at Lusíada University and researcher of the CEPESE (Study Centre of the Population, Economy and Society). Her research interests are Contemporary Portuguese Culture and Literature.

• Contents: Literature as an Institution: Systems Theory – Education and Readership at the Service of Politics during the Estado Novo (1933-1974) – Literary Canon and Ideology in the Formation of Cultural Identity during the Estado Novo – Compromise and Autonomy in Consecration during the Estado Novo – Politics, Economy and Social Environment as Constraints on the Constitution of Readership between 1974 and 2004 – Consecration and Legitimacy in the Portuguese Literary Field between 1974 and 2004 – José Saramago and José Luís Peixoto: Two Case Studies of Literary Legitimacy and Consecration.