Lusophone describes someone who “speaks the Portuguese language either as a native speaker, as an additional language, or as a learner.” The term Lusophone originated from province of Lusitania. Portugal is known for their talented readers and writers, including those who write poetry, biographies, and plays. Portuguese writers often wrote novels that were unknown, but discussed the important aspects about life. This article will discuss some famous Portuguese writers and highlight their accomplishments.
Fernando Pessoa, who was a well-known writer, was born in Lisbon, Portugal on June 13, 1888. As a child, he mourned due to the passing of his father. After graduating from an English school, Pessoa attended the University of Lisbon but withdrew from the University within a year of study. He decided to live with family members while writing business letters in English and French. In the beginning of his career, he started off by writing critical reviews for publishing companies. In 1912, he became involved in creative writing then, began writing poetry in 1914.
Pessoa’s poems were often described as “heteronymic” which led to them being presented in many journals and articles. Heteronymic work is described as “an author writing outside his own personality: it is the work of a complete individuality made up by him, just as the utterances of some character in a drama would be.” His poems were also described as “pseudonymic” which refers to an author “writing as himself.”
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In 1918, he published two novels, Antinous and Sonnets. In 1921, he published English Poems which consisted of many poems written in English, but soon after, he published Mensagem which consisted of many poems written in Portuguese. Sadly, Pessoa passed away on November 30, 1935 due to cirrhosis, which a chronic disease that causes swelling and pain in the liver. His work became widely recognized after his passing.
In the 20th century, many novelists developed different alter egos, but Pessoa had a more impactful alter ego. The article, “Poet: Fernando Pessoa,” states “No one took their alter ego as far as Pessoa, who gave up his own life to confer quasi-real substance on the poets he designated at heteronyms, giving each a personal biography, psychology, politics, aesthetics, religion, and physique.” Although Pessoa was a well-known writer, his work was distinguished from many others as many of his writing pieces were described as “pseudonymic” or “heteronymic” (“Poet: Fernando Pessoa”)
In 1465, Gil Vicente, who is well-known and versatile Portuguese writer, was born in Guimaraes, Portugal. In the article, “Gil Vicente,” Dilva Frazao stated that Vicente is “the greatest representative of Portuguese Renaissance literature.” Vicente devoted his time towards playwriting and poetry. His devotion to playwriting led him to establish his own theater in Portugal, where he presented many of his plays. Vicente gained recognition in 1502 when he presented “Auto da Visitation.” Although he wrote his plays for entertainment and enjoyment purposes, he decided to express his personal Christian values through his plays. His work was written in Spanish and Portuguese. He often criticized society’s wrongdoings through is poetry. In the article, the author outlined his career in three phases.
In the first phase, from 1502 to 1508, Vicente was inspired by writer Juan del Encina to begin writing plays. In the beginning of his career, he wrote many monologues, such as “Self of the Visitation,” “Auto Pastoral Spanish,” “Auto of the Sao Martinho,” and “Auto of the Magi.” Each of the monologues were religion-based. In the second phase, which took place between 1508 and 1516, he began writing plays based on personal characters by his own imagination. He wrote, “Who is Bran?,” “Auto from India,” “The Old Man of Horta,” and “Exhortation of War.”
In the third stage, which took place from of 1516 and 1536, the author considered this time period when we demonstrated his “best theatrical works of Portuguese literature” (Frazao). His works were more theoretical mature during this time. Towards the end of his career, he wrote “Farsa of Ines Pereira,” “Auto de Beira,” “The Cleric of Beira,” “Auto of Lusitania,” “Widower’s Comedy,” “Trilogy of the Barges,” and “The Forest of the Cheater.” Sadly, Vicente passed away in 1536. “The Forest of the Cheater” was the last play he wrote before his death.
Mario de Sa-Carneiro, the poet, is famously known as ‘Generation of Orpheus.” Although he was born Lisbon, Portugal, he was sent to be raised by his grandparents who resided in Quinta da Vitoria. In 1900, he began practicing writing poetry. In 1905, he published “O Chino,” which is a newspaper filled with sarcasm, mockery, and criticism. In 1908, he began writing short stories, then eventually worked with Thomas Cabeira Junior. Sa-Carneiro and his colleague orchestrated the play “Friendship.” Sadly, soon after, Junior committed suicide. To honor his friendship with Junior, Sa-Carneiro wrote a poem called, “To A Suicide,” in dedication towards him.
During his college career, the poet attended University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal, but decided to withdraw from the University. Instead, he decided to attend Faculty of Law of the Sorbonne. While enrolled in college, he published “Principle” which consisted of many short stories. In 1914, he published “The Confession of Lucio” and “Dispersion.” Him and Fernando Pessoa collaborated to publish Orpheu, which was a magazine that presented ideas about beauty and cultural traditions in Europe.
