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, Sa de Miranda and especially Luis de Camoes, author of the national and epic poem Os Lusiadas (The Lusiads).
History
The seventeenth century is generally seen as the century of literary decadence, despite the existence of writers like Father Antonio 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 Eca de Queiroz and Ramalho Ortigao. Literary trends during the twentieth century are represented mainly by Fernando Pessoa, believed one of the greatest national poets together with Camoes. In later years, we can see the development of prose fiction, thanks to authors such as Antonio Lobo Antunes and Jose Saramago, winner of the Nobel prize for Literature.
Some of the most important books of the Portuguese literature
Os Lusiadas by Luis de Camoes (1524-1580)
Livro do Desassossego by Fernando Pessoa
Sermoes by Padre Antonio Vieira
Os Maias by Eca de Queiros
Cancioneiros Medievais (Cantigas de Amigo e de Amor)
Cronica de D. Joao I, Fernao Lopes
Peregrinacao, Fernao Mendes Pinto
Memorial do Convento, Jose Saramago
Viagens na Minha Terra, Almeida Garrett
A Brasileira de Prazins, Camilo Castelo Branco
Sobolos Rios que Vao, Antonio Lobo Antunes
A Sibila, Agustina Bessa-Luis
Sonetos, Antero de Quental
Humus, Raul Brandao
Livro Sexto, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
Menina e Moca, Bernardim Ribeiro
Mau Tempo no Canal, Vitorino Nemesio
A Arte de Ser Portugues, Teixeira de Pascoaes
A Casa Grande de Romarigaes, Aquilino Ribeiro
Sinais de Fogo, Jorge de Sena
Aparicao, Vergilio Ferreira Aparicao
O Delfim, Jose Cardoso Pires
Uma Abelha na Chuva, Carlos de Oliveira
Maina Mendes, Maria Velho da Costa
Uma Viagem a India, Goncalo M. Tavares
Poetry
Obra Poetica, Sa de Miranda
Poesia, Bocage
O Livro, Cesario Verde
So, Antonio Nobre
Clepsidra, Camilo Pessanha
Poemas de Deus e do Diabo, Jose Regio
As Maos e os Frutos, Eugenio de Andrade
Pena Capital, Mario Cesariny
A Colher na Boca, Herberto Helder
Toda a Terra, Ruy Belo
Theatre
O Auto da Barca do Inferno, Gil Vicente
A Castro, Antonio Ferreira
Auto do Fidalgo Aprendiz, Francisco Manuel de Melo
Guerras de Alecrim e Manjerona, Antonio Jose da Silva
O Judeu, Bernardo Santareno
Essay
Leal Conselheiro, Rei D. Duarte
Quod nihil scitur, Francisco Sanches
O Verdadeiro Metodo de Estudar, Luis Antonio Verney
Portugal Contemporaneo, Oliveira Martins
A Ideia de Deus, Sampaio Bruno
Ensaios, Antonio Sergio
Ir A India Sem Sair de Portugal, Agostinho da Silva
O Labirinto da Saudade, Eduardo Lourenco
Tratado da Evidencia, Fernando Gil
O Erro de Descartes, Antonio Damasio
References
Writings on the subject
Parkinson, Stephen, Claudia Pazos Alonso, and T. F. Earle, eds. A Companion to Portuguese Literature. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer, 2009.