Poemas de Deus e do Diabo (1925; category: Poetry)
Jogo da Cabra Cega (1934; category: Fiction)
As Encruzilhadas de Deus (1936; category: Poetry)
Jacob e o Anjo (1940; category: Theatre)
Fado (1941; category: Poetry)
O Príncipe com Orelhas de Burro (1942; category: Fiction)
Mas Deus é Grande (1945; category: Poetry)
Benilde e a Virgem Mãe (1947; category: Theatre)
El-Rei Sebastião (1949; category: Theatre)
A Salvação do Mundo (1954; category: Theatre)
A Chaga do Lado (1954; category: Poetry)
Há Mais Mundos (1962; category: Fiction)
Historical period in literature: Modern literature, Modernism period
A lucid mind to his time
As a writer, José Régio was devoted to romance, theater, poetry and essay. Central
in his work are the issues of conflict between God and Man, the individual and
society. Carrying out a constant self-contained analysis and insight, his work is
strongly marked by the psychologist tone and, simultaneously, by a mysticism which
is shown in restless reasons as angelism or redemption in suffering.
His poetry of great lyrical and dramatic tension, often presents itself as
a kind of dialogue between different levels of consciousness. The same psychological
intensity, combined with a sense of social criticism, takes place in fiction.
Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe adapted into movie in 1975
Director: Manoel de Oliveira Cast: Glória de Matos, Jacinto Ramos, Maria Barroso
Poster of the movie
Casa Museu José Régio in Vila do Conde
This is nota museumarrangedas such.It is the homewhere José Régioexposed some of themany pieces gatheredoverhis life.
If it is still notorious the symbolist heritage, Fernando Pessoa went further, not only about the creation of new literary and artistic endeavors, but also with regard to the effort of theory and literary criticism. He is an universal poet, giving to his reader a vision unit and simultaneously multiple of Life. It is precisely this attempt to look the world in a multiple form (with a strong substratum of rationalist philosophy and even oriental influence) which lies a plausible explanation for having created the famous heteronyms: Alberto Caeiro, Álvaro de Campos and Ricardo Reis.
Main masterpieces:
Mensagem
Chuva Oblíqua
O Menino de sua Mãe
Liberdade
Autopsicografia
The heteronymy in Pessoa
Alberto Caeiro
Considered by Fernando Pessoa as the Master of heteronyms and himself, Caeiro expresses and represents the vision distinctly non-human, primitive and "pure" of Nature and even of Man. Without emotion (of subjectivity) and anulled the whole culture (the Reason) that Man has been creating, this heteronym makes from the pure sensation and objectivism (absolute) the "ideas" of existence and his writing. His words, intentionally without rhetoric-stylistic artifices seek to be the unspotted mirror of that naively wise "science of seeing".
As the Masterhas nometaphysical or social concerns(as withPessoaand Álvaro deCampos), is the only heteronym who knows theTruthof things–because he doesn't think of them.
But it isprecisely becausethe truthis not transmissible that the drama ofPessoa-Campos becomes understandable.
Main masterpieces: O Guardaor de Rebanhos; O Pastor Amoroso; Poemas Inconjuntos
Álvaro de Campos
He isthe opposite of Caeiro by the ontological drama that expressed, by thegreaterinvolvementinModernism andby expressinganevolutionarytrajectoryofhis poetic work.
Pessoagave thisfamousheteronymsome biographical dataof interest: was born in Tavirain 1890, graduated inmarine engineeringbyGlasgow,and livedin Lisboninactive. It is usual tosee threephasesin the evolution of Campos writing: first, the decadent, is theclosest toourfin-de-sièclepoetry; the second, the modernist, corresponds to the avant-garde experience started withOrpheu; and the third is thenegativistic,in which points out theanguish. It is, therefore, the heteronym thathas more multiplied on the pursuitof Truthandthe Absolute.
Main masterpieces: Tabacaria; Lisbon Revisited; Poema em Linha Reta; Ode Triunfal; Ode Marítima; Quasi; Manisfesto de Álvaro de Campos
Ricardo Reis
Education in aJesuitcollege, training in medicine, expatriation in Brazilfor beingmonarchical, latinistand hellenist, here are the essentialbiographical datathat Fernando Pessoaleft usabout thisheteronym. His poetry(his odes) reveals apoet whocontinuesthe "drama"lived by Pessoa. This imitation/ recreationof antiquityisa illusory "response", but poeticallyeffective,to the quiet assumptionof the human condition.
That is whyDestiny, Death, Glory,Love andfugacityof Timeare justmarksindicating thefutility ofall.Epicureanismand Stoicismare thesubstrateof itsphilosophicalpoetry.
Main masterpieces: Vem Sentar-te Comigo Lídia; Segue o teu Destino; Para ser Grande, sê Inteiro
Historical period in literature: Modern literature, Modernism period
Simple but brilliant initiatives to spread a Frame of Portugal
The fado singer Ana Moura gives voice to Fernando Pessoa: from
Chiado, Lisbon to Chinatown, Soho and Downtown New York City.
Song: "Fado de Pessoa"
Featuring: Ana Moura
Lyrics by: João Pedro Pais
Micro-film produced on February 24th, 2007
The Brazilian singer Maria Bethânia declaims "O Poema do Menino Jesus" and sings "O doce mistério da vida".
Poem: "Poema do Menino Jesus" (Alberto Caeiro)
Song: "O doce mistério da vida"
Featuring: Maria Bethânia
Other curiosities
Casa Fernando Pessoa in Lisbon
Inauguratedin November 1993, Casa FernandoPessoawas designed to honorhis memory. The Casa FernandoPessoa isamultipurposesmall universethat can be visited by anyone without any costs.
A Brasileiraisaniconiccoffee, founded onNovember 19, 1905, locatedat Largo doChiado, in Lisbon. It has been the scene ofmanyintellectual, artisticand literary gatherings.
Thespecial attendanceof Fernando Pessoaled tothe inaugurationin the 80s of a statue made of bronze that representsthe writersitting at a tableat the terrace cafe.Here you havethe opportunity to bein a coffeefull of culture. Come visit and enjoy the experience.
Modern literature, period from Romanticism to Symbolism
A Poetess of Excess
Florbela's poetry is characterizedby recurringthemesof suffering, loneliness,disappointment, associated with immensetenderness andadesire
for happiness andfulfillment thatcan only be achievedin the absolute,the infinite.Thepassionatevehemenceof her language, markedly personal, focused on herown frustrationsand anxieties,reflects sensualismoftenerotic.
Poetessof excess, cultivated
excessivelythe passion, with distinctlyfemalevoice. Her poetry, even sinningsometimesfor someconventionality,
has arousedcontinuing interestof readers andresearchers. She is considered as thegreat womanofPortuguese literaturefrom theearly decadesof
the twentieth century.
Mariza singing "Desejos Vãos" (Florbela Espanca)
The most international Portuguese fado singer, Mariza, gives voice to Florbela Espanca through her poem "Desejos Vãos".
Modern literature, period from Romanticism to Symbolism
Clepsidra, the apogee of Portuguese Symbolism
CamiloPessanhawasoneof the most
importantPortuguese poets. Maximum
exponentof Symbolism,wrotepoems andsonnetsof greatrhythmicand
formalquality. His workinfluencedwriters such asFernandoPessoaand
Máriode Sá-Carneiro. Hispoems were collectedin a collectionentitledClepsidra, considered one of thebest booksof Portuguese poetry. With greatsensitivity, he wrote ofunattainable idealsand the futilityof human endeavor. CamiloPessanhawas
partof Symbolism, a movement from
Franceand Germany, which sought to express the realitythrough symbols. His poetrywasmelancholicand pessimistic.
The poetcombinesin his poetry the symbolistand modernistsensibilities, through thelonging forunattainableideals, expressed
incarefulmusicalityon the one hand, and, second, stressing the materiality
of writing.
The passage of
time, its
irreversibility, isoneof the mostobsessive reasonsof this poetry,translatedthrough the symbolof "water",
included inthe title itself. Thewater runsin its
twocontradictory meanings: source
oflife and originof the
dissolutionand death.
O Livro de Cesário Verde (posthumous edition in 1871)
Historical period in literature: Modern literature, period from Romanticism to Symbolism
The Poetry in Cesário Verde
Theme
1-The dichotomycity/field
the city asurban and social placewherethe poetwanders,allowing him tocollectdetailedimpressionsof places,environments, characters.In his poems appear differentsocial typestypical of urban space- peoplein the workplace(pavers, blacksmiths, laborers,bakers, theironing)and others (the bourgeois woman,cold,aristocratic,luxurious,drunkards, prostitutes).The city of Vesário Verde isa"living city" inactivity, stageof progress and also of social injustice.
the field as space to overcome limitationsand humiliation;evasion space,a symbol of healthand life
2-Social issues
antagonismrich/poor,hard working conditions, suffering(disease,poverty,humiliation)thatthe weakare condemned.
Language and style
Cesário uses a "realistic" vocabulary composed of short sentences. The use of the adjective and adverb are a constant in his speech. This way the poet gets a faithful reproduction of reality interspersing with poetic figurations that transfigure the reality.
Modern literature, period from Romanticism to Symbolism
The literary work
In
the workof thisimportant figureof Portuguese literature, creator of the
modern novel, can be distinguishedusually threeaestheticphases: first, theromantic
influence, which includes the textsincluded in Prosas Bárbarasand goes tillMistério da Estrada de Sintra; the second, pure affirmationof Realism,which begins withparticipation in theCasino Conferencesand is fully revealedin the novelsO Primo Basílio and O Crime do Padre
Amaro; and third,
the overcomingofRealism-Naturalism,
reflectedin the novelsOs
Maias, A Ilustre Casa de Ramires
and A Cidade e as Serras.
O Primo Basílio
Through
thethemeof adultery, this work mainly focuses onthe fatal consequencesof aromanticfemale education. Luísa,married toJorge,amining engineer,hadasentimentaleducationandconsumes
theday with the same routine. Aprolonged absenceof her husband
coincides with the Basílio’s arrival, cousin and formerboyfriend ofLuísa,who made fortunein Braziland nowitappearswith the charm of the sophisticated lifein Paris.Weakenedby the type ofeducation shehad, the lack ofcontact
withJorgeand the gathering withLeopoldina, a friend that made up foranunhappy marriagewith a succession oflovers,Luísacan’t
yield tothecousin attempts and
has with him, secretly, manydates.
Meanwhile, the maidJulianacaptures someletters
exchangedbetween the lovers andbeginsblackmailingLuísa.The relationshipeventually ends and Basílio leaves toParis.The Juliana requirements willbeincreasing, even after the return ofJorge. Luísa begins doing the
housework, while her healthgets
worse.
In
turn, Juliana,
whois seriously ill, dies,
which allowSebastião,afamily friend, to retrieve
the letters.Luísathinks herselfsaved.Achance,however,reveals everythingto Jorge, who confronts her withthe fact. Luisagets
sickand eventuallydies.In the end,Basílioreturns
toLisbon,once againto showthecharacterofconqueror withoutscruples.
O Primo Basílioreflectswith greatsubtletyand
realismthe differentenvironments
ofLisbon in that time,
habits and values ofbourgeoisie.To thiscontributes significantlyitsgallery of exceptionalsecondary characters, which includesthe maidJuliana,Leopoldina,
Sebastião, Julião,Joana,D. Felicidade andthe CounselorAcácio.
O Crime do Padre Amaro
Eca
deQueiróstheorizesaboutNaturalism,
defined as anew methodto face the truth, and assignsto artapedagogical
missionof social reform.In thisperspective, the work aims todenounce thesocial and moralevilsresulting from thepriesthood withoutcalling andfalsereligious education.
Thefiercecriticism to theCatholic clergyand thepernicious effectsof its presence inbourgeoishomes, besides the seduction process ofAmeliabyAmaro;
his crime, announced in the title,corresponds to thesacrifice of his ownson,unfoldsin a
series ofscenes andsecondary
characters, which brings out the cynicismand lustof thecanon
Dias.
A Relíquia
Itsepigraph–"On thestrongnakednessof
truth, thetranslucentmantleof
fantasy"–becamefamous forsynthesizingthe alliancebetween realismand imagination, naturalism andfantastic,alliance, moreover, evident in the workand confirmedin the "Introduction".
From the
central plot– the
journeyof TeodoricotheHoly
Land,where he brings, not arelic thathad promised to thepiousaunt, but,
by mistake, the nightshirtof alover –standsthe
dream ortravel on time of the protagonist that,accompanied by hislearned friendDr.Topsius, attends the hearing,trial and deathof Jesus. The workthat
exaltsthe human figureof Christas a paradigmof love andkindnesswas consideredheretical bymost conservative sectors,by questioningthe divinityof Christ.
WhileCamilo Castelo Brancoresorts tosarcasmandparodyto express thevanityof the worldin general,Eçamakes use ofirony
andsatire, more subtleand delicate, as it is visible inA Relíquia, narrative of thePortuguese manof the nineteenth century, deformedbywomenthrough aChristian education that, in addition to notprepare forthe
practical realities oflife,denies
himand confusesbasic drives,
contaminating him with valuesthat
he is notable to find in a world wherehuman love isephemeraland lovedivineunreliable,
and seeming togive himabitgrandiloquentrhetoric little appropriate to this
context. The aim is,at bottom,once again, to draw a pictureof whatis thegreat
latent characterof the Eça’s work:Portugal.
Os Maias
This
is themasterpiece byEça de Queirós andoneof the most
importantof all thePortuguesenarrative literature. It is worth especially
by the languageand the fine
ironywith which the authordefines
thecharacters and presents the
situations. It isarealistic novel(and naturalist) where fatalism, social analysis, adventuresand catastrophe typical of the passionate plot
aren’t absent.
The
workdeals
with thestory of a family(Maia)
throughout threegenerations, focusing then on thenext generationand givingrelief to theincestuouslovesof
Carlosda Maiaand MariaEduarda. But the history
is alsoapretext forthe author to criticize thedeteriorating
conditionof the country (political and cultural)and the Lisboanupper middle classnineteenth-century, where permeates a humor (sometimes thin,sometimessatirical)
that sets the defeat anddisappointment
of all the characters.
