Metamorfoses do conto: a propósito de Short Movies de Gonçalo M. Tavares

Maria João Pais do Amaral 한국 포르투갈-브라질 학회 2015 포르투갈-브라질 연구 Vol.12 No.3

The objective of this essay is to demonstrate that the texts included in Short Movies are innovative short stories that imitate cinema procedures in order to serve the purposes of a markedly contemporary practice of writing aimed at slight transformations of traditional literary forms. The extreme brevity of these texts, the ironic detachment of the narrator regarding its unnamed characters and its few but often harsh events are part of that goal. So is the way the narrator brings into broad light some of the darker aspects of human nature: by giving a new life to the ancient literary technique known as ante oculos, he places what happens before our eyes as a camera would, showing it as live images through realistic, accurate and often dynamic, but also fragmentary, descriptions. Images and fragments also contribute to break the Aristotelian canons. Yet, the main features that define the short story as a literary genre are still recognizable in most of these short movies, including those where nothing seems to happen or where part of what happens remains unknown. As to the ironic detachment of the narrator, it is not a cruel indifference sign but rather a way of keeping neutrality – and, above all, another effective means of leading the reader to reflect on a disturbing and shocking reality, in which random, fear, hunger, aggressiveness, struggle for domination and other primary instincts play a more decisive role in human life than we are usually willing to admit. El objetivo de este ensayo es demostrar que los textos incluidos en Short Movies son cuentos innovadores que imitan los procedimientos del cine a fin de servir los propósitos de una práctica de escritura contemporánea interesada en ligeras transformaciones de las formas literarias tradicionales. La extrema brevedad de estos textos, el distanciamiento irónico del narrador con respecto a sus personajes anónimos y sus pocos pero a menudo crueles eventos son parte de ese objetivo. También lo es la forma en que el narrador pone en plena luz algunos de los aspectos más sombríos de la naturaleza humana: dando una nueva vida a la antigua técnica literaria conocida como ante oculos, coloca lo que sucede ante nuestros ojos, mostrándolo como imágenes en directo mediante descripciones realistas, precisas y a menudo dinámicas, sino también fragmentarias. Imágenes y fragmentos contribuyen a infringir los cánones aristotélicos. Sin embargo, las principales características que definen el cuento como género literario son aún reconocibles en la mayoría de estos textos, incluyendo aquellos donde parece que nada sucede o donde se desconoce parte de lo que sucede. En cuanto al distanciamiento irónico del narrador, no es un signo de indiferencia cruel, sino más bien una forma de mantener la neutralidad – y, sobre todo, otro medio eficaz de conducir al lector a reflexionar sobre una realidad inquietante, en la que el azar, el miedo, el hambre, la agresividad, la lucha por la dominación y otros instintos primarios juegan un papel decisivo en la vida humana.

Um autor português do século XIX ainda próximo de nós A novelística de Camilo Castelo Branco

( Maria João Pais Do Amaral ) 한국포르투갈-브라질학회 2005 포르투갈-브라질 연구 Vol.2 No.1

The main purpose of this paper is to present a 19th century Portuguese novelist whose works are not as well known abroad as those of Camões, Pessoa or the Nobel Prize winner Saramago. Nonetheless, he is one of the most representative names of Portuguese Romanticism and, perhaps, one of the most genuine Portuguese writers of all times. Moreover, his works are a precious testimony of Portuguese 19th century’s major historical and social conflicts. Entering Camilo Castelo Branco’s fictional world can, thus, be regarded as one of the best ways of being acquainted with Portuguese history, culture and people. But it’s also a means of having knowledge of an extraordinary story-teller, whose adventurous plots and varied characters representing the worst and the best of mankind attract our attention - anytime, anywhere. The universality of Camilo’s novels partially lies on the fact that, although events take place in Portugal more than one century ago, although characters live and love, struggle and die in a distant country, at a distant time, they are all brought to life by the powerful words of an author who puts them before the reader’s eyes as if they were real people, living nearby or appearing daily on our TV screens. After all, the romantic technique of the feuilleton, which Camilo and most of his contemporary European fellow-writers mastered, is not that different from contemporary TV episodes writing technique. Causing strong feelings and emotions, moving readers or spectators into tears or laughter, sympathy or animadversion, hate or compassion, are crucial ingredients to catch any public’s attention and keep it alive. As a journalist and professional writer, Camilo was well aware of it. That’s why the author never shows indifference towards any character or event of the stories he tells. He makes comments and judgments. He addresses the reader as a friend and leads him to share his points of view. He talks passionately in order to make the reader feel passion. He claims he actually met some of the characters, or witnessed some of the events. For that reason, his autobiographical data also play an important role, as well as contemporary socio-political and historical events. Needless to say, passionate love stories between young people from different social or economical backgrounds constitute the central element of this overwhelming universe, in which individual happiness and collective destinies prove to be inseparable. As a matter of fact, Camilo’s love stories are more than mere love stories because the heroes’ adventures and misfortunes originate in a world where money meant more than human beings and marriage had nothing to do with love. These things are an essential part of the accurate portrayal of Portuguese 19th century bourgeois status that the author depicts in his works, accusing society of being dominated by materialism, prejudice and hypocrisy. Ironically, while suiting the bourgeois readers’ demands, who appreciated adventurous love stories and moral lessons, Camilo went further in his pedagogical labour and pointed his finger at those who made it possible for him to earn a living… And, although he didn’t believe in fiction’s persuasive power, he never stopped praising those things he considered true values: compassion, solidarity, forgiveness, fraternity… in one word, and above all, love. These are the main values his heroes fight for - and also any reader will recognize as the noblest human values.

Príncipes encobertos e princesas enamoradas: do disfarce por amor no teatro de Gil Vicente

Maria João Pais do Amaral 한국 포르투갈-브라질 학회 2008 포르투갈-브라질 연구 Vol.5 No.1

The main object of this essay is love disguise in two plays of Gil Vicente, Portuguese dramatist who developed his theatrical activity between 1502 and 1536 under the patronage of the monarchs Manuel I and João III. Widely spread in 16th century European literature, the motif of love disguise has its origins in chivalry romances, which are one of the many diverse sources of Gil Vicente's court theatre and also one of the dramatist's first spectators' favourite kind of books. I analyse it in Comédia do Viúvo and Tragicomédia de D. Duardos, where the protagonists, princes Rosvel and Duardos, hide their true identity and social rank from their beloved in order to prove the authenticity of their affection. In a first moment, I compare the way each of these two princes uses love disguise, reflecting on the function and meaning of the obvious differences this comparative analysis brings into light. In a second moment, I relate those differences with both the dramatic genre each of these two plays belongs and the conception of love that is on the basis of the stories enacted in Viúvo and Duardos, which, although originating in courtly love conventions, goes far beyond it. Finally, and because Gil Vicente's theatre is an art that strongly depends on circumstances, the date on which these spectacles were presented for the first time before the Portuguese king and court, as well as the purposes they were meant to fulfil, are also taken into consideration in this reflection on the innovative use of love disguise motif by one of the most important Portuguese dramatists of all times. The main object of this essay is love disguise in two plays of Gil Vicente, Portuguese dramatist who developed his theatrical activity between 1502 and 1536 under the patronage of the monarchs Manuel I and João III. Widely spread in 16th century European literature, the motif of love disguise has its origins in chivalry romances, which are one of the many diverse sources of Gil Vicente's court theatre and also one of the dramatist's first spectators' favourite kind of books. I analyse it in Comédia do Viúvo and Tragicomédia de D. Duardos, where the protagonists, princes Rosvel and Duardos, hide their true identity and social rank from their beloved in order to prove the authenticity of their affection. In a first moment, I compare the way each of these two princes uses love disguise, reflecting on the function and meaning of the obvious differences this comparative analysis brings into light. In a second moment, I relate those differences with both the dramatic genre each of these two plays belongs and the conception of love that is on the basis of the stories enacted in Viúvo and Duardos, which, although originating in courtly love conventions, goes far beyond it. Finally, and because Gil Vicente's theatre is an art that strongly depends on circumstances, the date on which these spectacles were presented for the first time before the Portuguese king and court, as well as the purposes they were meant to fulfil, are also taken into consideration in this reflection on the innovative use of love disguise motif by one of the most important Portuguese dramatists of all times.