A bit of history
In the Middle Ages, Portuguese literary production began with GalaicoPortuguese chansons de gestes and lyric poems already strongly marked by a certain languor and nostalgia. In the 16th century, Gil Vicente (1465-1537), the Portuguese Shakespeare, left his mark on the history of European theater. His play La Barque de l'Enfer (The Boat from Hell ) is a must-see in Portugal. Luís de Camões (1525-1580), whose Lusiades recount the epic of the Discoveries, was also a major figure in modern Portuguese literature. The 17th century was dominated by Baroque religious literature, above all the eloquent sermons of the Jesuit priest António Vieira, a great humanist who campaigned for the cause of Brazil's indigenous peoples and against the Inquisition.
Contemporary Literature
At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, Romanticism swept through Portugal and found many followers among the most brilliant literary figures of the time: Viscount d'Almeida Garrett (1799-1854), for example, who transformed the hero of the Lusiades into a Romantic hero in his poem Camões. Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877), the great national poet whose name now adorns many streets and squares across the country, greatly influenced the Romantic movement. His Légendes et récits du Portugal and Eurico can be read in French.
The second half of the literary 19th century was marked by the acid social chronicles of Eça de Queiroz (1845-1900) and Camilo Castelo Branco (1825-1890), whose novels were strongly inspired by Balzac's realism. The former, for example, wrote Une famille portugaise(Os Maias for the Portuguese title), a kind of Zola-style naturalist fresco! The latter's Amour de perdition (1862) is considered by some to be Portugal's greatest romance novel. The author wrote this story of forbidden love while in prison for his relationship with a married woman. With its medieval tradition, lyric poetry became king again at the beginning of the 20th century with Antero de Quental and Eugenio de Castro. But above all, this century saw the emergence of the three greats of contemporary Portuguese literature:
Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), considered by some literati around the world to be the most important writer of the 20th century, and his beady, hatted figure will forever haunt the imagination of Lisbon. The principle of his literature is one of singular genius: he relates the thoughts of numerous people who gravitate around a self-referential, hermetic universe, into which one plunges only to drown immediately. Some of these people even claim to know "a certain Fernando Pessoa". During his lifetime, literary critics felt that his literary creation was closely linked to that of some of his friends: the melancholic Bernardo Soares, the magnificent Alberto Caiero, the conservative Richardo Reis, the lyrical Alvaro de Campos, all very much in vogue at the time. It was only after his death in 1935 that it became clear that these "friends" were imaginary characters, and that all the poems, short stories, odes and fragments published at the time had been invented by Pessoa himself.
Antonio Tabucchi (1943-2012), the Italian writer who was so seduced by Lisbon and Portugal that he decided to write in Portuguese! One of his best novels, Pereira prétend (Sostiene Pereira), describes the awakening of a journalist during the heyday of the New State. The theme is interesting, but the extraordinary portrayal of Lisbon will win you over above all else. A book to keep for days of saudade.
José Saramago (1922-2010), widely known and appreciated abroad. The only Portuguese to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998, his fantastic and pessimistic novels are in the best tradition of Portuguese literature. A member of the Communist Party since 1969, he professes to be an atheist and has not failed to stir up controversy in Catholic Portugal, notably with his Gospel according to Jesus Christ.
In Algarve
Very few writers from the Algarve have crossed borders. But a few have left their mark on their country's literary history. António Aleixo (1899-1949) is one of them. He is considered one of the Algarve's leading poets. His ironic lyrics at the beginning of the twentieth century brought a fresh critique of society. A statue pays homage to him in Loulé, near the Calcinha bar he once frequented.
Another fine writer from Loulé is Casimiro Cavaco Correia de Brito (1938-2024). Initially a journalist, then an essayist, he finally turned to poetry, an art to which he devoted some twenty works. His latest novel, 69 poèmes d'amour, has been much talked about. Other works include Aimer toute la vie (2015).
The Future of Portuguese Literature
As far as young hopefuls are concerned, let's start with Manuel de Freitas and his Game Over, a sort of collection of urban hymns in which the author captures everyday life and delivers a bitter, disillusioned chronicle of it. It's also important to discover António Lobo Antunes (b. 1942). This psychiatrist is also an acclaimed author, having been awarded the Camões Prize in 2007, the country's top literary prize. His writing aims to break the codes and rules of the traditional plot: he uses several narrators, for example, who approach the same situation from different points of view. His books include Traité des passions de l'âme (1990), Mémoire d'éléphant (1998) and Mon nom est légion (2007). Also worth reading is Margarida Rebelo Pinto (b. 1965), author and writer for the Portuguese and international press (including Elle and Marie-Claire). Her first novel, Les Filles d'Estoril, was published in 1999 and made her a household name. Finally, let's turn to the author Agustina Bessa-Luís (1922-2019), a true icon of Portuguese literature. Seven of Manoel de Oliveira's films were inspired by her! Her works include La Sibylle (1984), Le Confortable désespoir des femmes (1994) and Le Principe de l'incertitude (2002).
