Portuguese literature

**Portuguese literature** is the literature written in the Portuguese language, particularly by citizens of Portugal; it may also refer to literature written by people living in Portugal, Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, and other Portuguese speaking countries.

## Examples

An early example of Portuguese literature is the tradition of a medieval Galician-Portuguese poetry. This tradition developed in Galicia and northern Portugal.

The literature of Portugal is told apart by several aspects:
- a variety of lyric poetry,
- historical writing recording Portugal's rulers, conquests, and expansion
- by the Golden Age of the Renaissance period. On this period we find several of the most famous Portuguese writers such as Gil Vicente, Bernardim Ribeiro, Sá de Miranda and especially Luís de Camões, author of the national and epic poem _Os Lusíadas_ (The Lusiads).

## History

The seventeenth century is generally seen as the century of literary decadence, despite the existence of writers like Father António Vieira, Padre Manuel Bernardes and Francisco Rodrigues Lobo.

The writers of the eighteenth century tried to oppose a certain decadence of the baroque stage by making an effort to recover the level of quality reached during the Golden Age. This was done through the creation of academies and literary Arcadias - it was the time of Neoclassicism. In the nineteenth century, the neoclassical ideals were abandoned, where Almeida Garrett introduced Romanticism, followed by Alexandre Herculano and Camilo Castelo Branco.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Realism (of naturalistic features) developed in novel-writing, whose exponents included Eça de Queiroz and Ramalho Ortigão. Literary trends during the twentieth century are represented mainly by Fernando Pessoa, believed one of the greatest national poets together with Camões. In later years, we can see the development of prose fiction, thanks to authors such as António Lobo Antunes and José Saramago, winner of the Nobel prize for Literature.

## Some of the most important books of the Portuguese literature

- Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões (1524-1580)
- Livro do Desassossego by Fernando Pessoa
- Sermões by Padre António Vieira
- Os Maias by Eça de Queirós
- Cancioneiros Medievais (Cantigas de Amigo e de Amor)

- Crónica de D. João I, Fernão Lopes
- Peregrinação, Fernão Mendes Pinto
- Memorial do Convento, José Saramago
- Viagens na Minha Terra, Almeida Garrett
- A Brasileira de Prazins, Camilo Castelo Branco

- Sôbolos Rios que Vão, António Lobo Antunes
- A Sibila, Agustina Bessa-Luís
- Sonetos, Antero de Quental
- Húmus, Raul Brandão
- Livro Sexto, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen

- Menina e Moça, Bernardim Ribeiro
- Mau Tempo no Canal, Vitorino Nemésio
- A Arte de Ser Português, Teixeira de Pascoaes
- A Casa Grande de Romarigães, Aquilino Ribeiro
- Sinais de Fogo, Jorge de Sena

- Aparição, Vergílio Ferreira Aparição
- O Delfim, José Cardoso Pires
- Uma Abelha na Chuva, Carlos de Oliveira
- Maina Mendes, Maria Velho da Costa
- Uma Viagem à Índia, Gonçalo M. Tavares

### Poetry

- Obra Poética, Sá de Miranda
- Poesia, Bocage
- O Livro, Cesário Verde
- Só, António Nobre
- Clepsidra, Camilo Pessanha
- Poemas de Deus e do Diabo, José Régio
- As Mãos e os Frutos, Eugénio de Andrade
- Pena Capital, Mário Cesariny
- A Colher na Boca, Herberto Helder
- Toda a Terra, Ruy Belo

### Theatre

- O Auto da Barca do Inferno, Gil Vicente
- A Castro, António Ferreira
- Auto do Fidalgo Aprendiz, Francisco Manuel de Melo
- Guerras de Alecrim e Manjerona, António José da Silva
- O Judeu, Bernardo Santareno

### Essay

- Leal Conselheiro, Rei D. Duarte
- Quod nihil scitur, Francisco Sanches
- O Verdadeiro Método de Estudar, Luís António Verney
- Portugal Contemporâneo, Oliveira Martins
- A Ideia de Deus, Sampaio Bruno
- Ensaios, António Sérgio
- Ir À Índia Sem Sair de Portugal, Agostinho da Silva
- O Labirinto da Saudade, Eduardo Lourenço
- Tratado da Evidência, Fernando Gil
- O Erro de Descartes, António Damásio

## Writings on the subject

- Parkinson, Stephen, Cláudia Pazos Alonso, and T. F. Earle, eds. _A Companion to Portuguese Literature_. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer, 2009.