Considered one of the main names in world Literature and, in particular, of the Literature Portuguese, Fernando Pessoa was a writer, poet, editor and translator.
The Portuguese works contain different and innovative characteristics for the time, such as the use of the heteronym resource, a characteristic that makes him a multiple artist, as we will see below.
For his genius and unique work, Fernando Pessoa is one of the most discussed authors in entrance exams and in Enem.
Life
Fernando Pessoa was born on June 13, 1888, in Largo de São Carlos, in Lisbon, in Portugal. His parents were Joaquim de Seabra Pessoa and Maria Magdalena Pinheiro Nogueira Pessoa.
The artist spent much of his childhood in Durban, a British colony located in the South Africa, where his stepfather was the Portuguese consul.
The writer's father died of tuberculosis when he was five years old. According to studies, in adolescence Pessoa was a shy but intelligent boy, a good student and owner of great imagination.
Fernando Pessoa started writing poems as a child. His first text dates back to 1895, when he was seven years old.
Pessoa even joined the course in Graduation in Letters, in Lisbon. However, after two years, he abandoned him. He preferred to study on his own at the National Library. He read books in English and Portuguese.
“I have on me all the dreams of the world"
Still young, around 22 years old, the artist was already writing in Portuguese, English and French. He produced works in prose and poetry. He also began acting as a literary critic and editor for magazines, even directing some of them.
In addition to writing books, Pessoa wrote essays, plays, novels, literary reviews, among others. He also devoted himself to astrology and advertising.
Having lived in South Africa, he was fluent in English. So he always worked with translation. translated the work The crow, one of the main ones in the American E d g a r Allan Poe.
In 1920, Pessoa moved in with his mother, half-sister and two half-brothers at Rua Coelho da Rocha, nº 16, in Lisbon, where Casa Fernando Pessoa is today.
The Portuguese's family considered him affectionate and kind, but very reserved. Studies indicate that he had a discreet and free life, especially in terms of schedules, and that he was bipolar.
Fernando Pessoa left more than 25,000 written sheets as a legacy, which are kept in the National Library of Portugal. Among his writings, there are poetry, plays, short stories, philosophical essays, literary criticism, translations, linguistic theories, political texts, astrological letters, among others.
“Everything is worth it if the soul is not small"
Fernando Pessoa died at the age of 47, on November 30, 1935, victim of liver cirrhosis.
On the eve of his death, he wrote in pencil, in English, the following sentence: “I know not what tomorrow will bring (I don't know what tomorrow will bring)”.
Tomb of Fernando Pessoa is located in the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, in Lisbon
Credit: commons
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Constructions
Pessoa has dedicated most of his 47 years of life to a writing career. According to him, being a poet and writer was not a profession, but a vocation.
Fernando Pessoa is considered modernist, as he was one of the writers who started the movement in Portugal, alongside names like Almada Negreiros, Mario de Sá-Carneiro, Luís de Montalvor and Ronald de Carvalho.
See too: Exercises on Mário de Sá-Carneiro
The writer helped found the magazine orpheus, responsible for disseminating modernist ideas in Portugal and also in Brazil.
Pessoa liked to reflect on identity, truth and existentialism. Some of his poems had a nationalist character.
Check out Fernando Pessoa's main works below:
Book of Disquiet: considered the work of the writer that most resembles a novel;
Message: made up of 44 poems, it is Pessoa's only book published in his lifetime. It was written in 1934, in Portuguese;
Complete poems by Alberto Caeiro: collection of works by Caeiro, one of Pessoa's most famous heteronyms, alongside Álvaro de Campos and Ricardo Reis.
Poetry: contains several well-known poems, among which “Tobaccoshop”, “Poem em straight” stand out, “Maritime Ode”, “Autopsychography”, “Birthday”, “All love letters…” and “I don't know how many souls have".
Read too: The 5 best poems by Fernando Pessoa
Credit: nito / Shutterstock.com
heteronyms
One of the differentials of Fernando Pessoa's works and poetry is the use of heteronym – a resource used by a writer when he writes texts under other names.
Using heteronyms, Pessoa presented characteristics such as the unfolding of the “I”, the multiplication of identities and the sincerity of the pretense.
“This tendency to create around me another world, like this one but with other people, never left my imagination.”
Each heteronym of Pessoa had its own personality: physical characteristics, specific literary activities, particular political and religious views. Check out the most known heteronyms below:
Alberto Caeiro: he was an engineer influenced by symbolism and futurism;
Álvaro de Campos: wrote poetry in a simple, direct and concrete way;
Ricardo Reis: he was a doctor who contemplated bucolicism in his works;
Bernardo Soares: considered the alter ego of Portuguese, it is the “semi-heteronym” of Pessoa, as it is the most similar to him. With that name, the poet wrote the book of restlessness, considered his main work.
Know more: All about Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms
Also check: Exercises on Fernando Pessoa and his heteronyms
Fernando Pessoa House
Inaugurated on November 30, 1993, in Lisbon, the Fernando Pessoa House it is a cultural space located in the place where the writer lived for the last 15 years of his life.
Also known as the “house of poetry”, the center includes the writer's private library, with a large part of the books that, in fact, belonged to Portuguese.
The place, which preserves personal objects, documents and furniture used by him, is considered a tourist attraction in the capital of Portugal.
By Silvia Tancredi
Journalist