History of Literatures in European Languages - Literature review Example

History of Literatures in European Languages The authors of the book scrutinize modernism as a term, defining it and giving examples in various contexts. These comprise in politics, science, art and literature. Concerning literature, evaluate various texts and creators in the European languages. This includes in Brazil, France, Sweden, Finland, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Spain and Greece. The authors identify modernism as a faction stressing liberation and progressiveness, especially in the 1920s-30s. They identify the source of the movement as the outdated assumptions of literary realism and bourgeois subjectivity universal in the pre-modernism literature. In their evaluation of Portuguese modernism they evaluate Pessoa’s poetry. They opine that the poetry utilizes the concepts of identity crisis in its portrayal of modernity. Pessoa’s passages portray a loss of self, use of the term empire in reference to the unity of a community, and nationalism. Sadlier, D 1998, An introduction to Fernando Pessoa: modernism and the paradoxes of authorship, University Press of Florida, Florida. The author concentrates on the poetry of four artists, Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo, Campos and Fernando Pessoa. The author addresses the social and political settings of Pessoa’s poetry. Additionally, she delves into the poet’s political inclinations and makes a case for the contribution of the ideological and aesthetic crosscurrents, present in the early 19th century, to the poet’s works. The author evaluates the poet’s deconstruction of his identity, and construction of a single artistic identify. This is through language, which the author considers as a nation. She identifies the political and social environment present in Portugal during the time of Pessoa. This includes a succession of politically and socially significant events, up to the establishment of “Estodo Novo”. These are the events that the author postulates contributed most to the poet’s works. Santos, M 2003, Atlantic poets: Fernando Pessoa's turn in Anglo-American modernism. University Press of New England, New England. In his book, the author seeks to contribute to the discussions of lyric poetry in relations to concerns pertaining to identity, nation and internationalism. This he achieves by asking, in novel ways, old questions about poetic theory. In his quest, he brings together the poetic constructs of modernist lyricism, including Pessoa. He evaluates the impact of the structures of imperialism in the inside forms of poetic modernism. The author refers to Pessoa’s poems as imperial, especially, when the poet becomes totalitarian in his quest to be both national and international. He evaluates the poet’s identity as modern, but opposes the imagery of the angel as signifying the dissolution of boundaries in culture, sexuality and nationality. He ascertains that poetry can only serve as a point of definition. Berg, C, Durieux, F & Lernou, G 1995, The turn of the century: modernism and modernity in literature and the arts, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin. The authors significantly dwell in elucidation of the idea of modernity. They lament that the hard-to-define term has been inadequately and misleadingly misinterpreted. These definitions always narrow down to a style or movement within a certain context. This, they lament, had led the exclusion of numerous authors outside the American-Anglo pool; including the exponent of Portuguese modernism, Fernando Pessao. The authors laud the poet’s criticism of the use of interiority, and his preference of deconstruction of self identity. They credit the poet on his utilization of imperialism, elevation of national and communal identity above the identity of the self. Santos, R 2003, ‘The art of rumination: Pessoa's heteronyms revisited’, The Journal of Romance Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 9-22. The author uses the term rumination as first used by Friedrich Schegel, when he referred to critics. She uses the concept of rumination to evaluate its ability in understanding poetry and poetics. She presents rumination as a part of the numerous facets of memory relating to the notion of repetition. She also uses the concept to reflect on poetry, and the poetic, as rewriting, and focuses mainly on Fernando Pessoa. The author opines that Pessoa described the early phases of modernity in Portugal, relating tales of various figures in the country. Peesoa, thus, illuminates the crisis of modernity through the early modernity of Portugal. He evaluates the early violence, disquiet and early knowledge brought by modernity. The implication of this destabilizes the modern consciousness of Portugal. Sadlier, D 1997, ‘Nationalism, modernity, and the formation of Fernando Pessoa’s aesthetics’, Luso-Brazillian Review, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 109-122. The author draws close relation between Fernando Pessoa’s works and the climate in Portugal during his time, both social and political. This included the demise of the monarchy, establishment of democracy and the rise and fall of Sidonio Pais. The author opines that Pessoa’s work was heavily influenced by the revolutionary nationalism waves in Portugal in his time. Therefore, his works portray both modernism and nationalism. The twin lenses, to history and cosmopolitanism shaped his works. In his return to Portugal, as a young man, the republic and advent of modernity offered better hope, politically, socially and economically. His early works, therefore, bear the tensions between cosmopolitanism and obstinate nationalism. The author opines that Pessoa was privy to the van guard and participated in the movement to renew things. Ceia, C 2006, ‘Modernism, Joyce, and Poeruguese literature’, Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 5-18. In this article, the author discusses parallels between the works of James Joyce and texts by modernists including Antunes, Brandao and Pessoa. The author focuses on the importance myths, interiority, narrative techniques and linguistic experimentalism. The author utilizes the paradigms of modernism to identify the influences of Joyce on these artists. The author attributes the modernist nature of Pessoa to his schooling in South Africa and his fluency in English. He further postulates that the poet was ahead of his peers because he kept abreast of new literature. In style, he identifies the use self reflexivity and the utilization of self reflexivity in the work of Pessoa. These are styles that the author traces as pertinent in modernists literature. Bibliography Berg, C, Durieux, F & Lernout, G 1995, the turn of the century: modernism and modernity in literature and the arts, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin. Ceia, C 2006, ‘Modernism, Joyce, and Portuguese literature’, Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 5-18. Eysteinsson, A & Liska, V 2007, a comparative history of literatures in European languages: modernism vol.2. John Benjamins, Philadelphia. Sadlier, D 1997, ‘Nationalism, modernity, and the formation of Fernando Pessoa’s aesthetics’, Luso-Brazillian Review, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 109-122. Sadlier, D 1998, an introduction to Fernando Pessoa: modernism and the paradoxes of authorship, University Press of Florida, Florida. Santos, M 2003, Atlantic poets: Fernando Pessoa's turn in Anglo-American modernism. University Press of New England, New England. Santos, R 2003, ‘the art of rumination: Pessoa's heteronyms revisited’, The Journal of Romance Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 9-22. Read More