Retrieval and Triangulation: Eduardo Lourenço reads Pascoaes and Pessoa

Abstract

In his essay “On Literature as an Interpretation of Portugal”, Eduardo Lourenço reinterprets the history of Portuguese literature in the last two centuries. This reinterpretation is based on the revaluation of the idea of Portugal as a dominant literary theme. This “national theme” was most thoroughly explored by Fernando Pessoa, giving him not only a unique character in literary modernism, but also a defining role in the history of modern Portuguese literature. However, such exploration would not have been possible without Teixeira de Pascoaes’ previous poetic experience, particularly through its elevation of this poetic experience above any kind of historical constraints. This essay aims to address some of the aspects by which Pascoaes’ example foreshadows Pessoa’s work and Eduardo Lourenço’s own interpretation as well, at the same time it constitutes a possibility that is yet to be fulfilled within the scope of Portuguese culture.