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ABSTRACT
The poet António Feliciano de Castilho (1800–1875) sought to create a literary presence beyond the space of the Portuguese metropolis, sometimes in his own name, whereas on other occasions he resorted to the members of his circle, that formed in Portugal and its overseas territories a republic of letters. I will focus on two works by Castilho, Camões and A Felicidade pela Agricultura (1849), which point to a deliberate participation in the emergence of a literary scene in Macau and the Azores (1840s-1850s). The poet is one of the first Portuguese authors to have developed a publication plan that includes the colonial and insular territories of Portugal, a plan linked to the textual phenomenon of incorporating in his works texts by other authors of his group. The aim of this essay is therefore to investigate how the relationship of Portuguese literates from Romanticism to literate communities such as the Azores and Macao allows us to draw a different map of what would later be designated as Portuguese-language literature(s). The theoretical consequences to be drawn from this remapping will shed new light on the ‘formation’ of Portuguese-language literature(s) and also call for an urgent re-evaluation of Castilho’s oeuvre.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. One of these women was Amélia Janny (1842–1914).
2. In Goa, Ribeiro founded and chaired the Vasco da Gama Institute (1871), which brought together a plethora of Goan poets writing in Portuguese. Ribeiro also left an important work on Goa, Jornadas (1873), where he describes the Goan cultural milieu.
3. We can say that criticism of Castilho’s work stopped in the 1870s, which means that what authors like Antero and other confreres of the ‘Questão Coimbrã’ (1865–1866) wrote about him as being solely a conservative and controlling author is still valid. From the outset, there is a tendency to read Castilho only in the light of the aforementioned confrontation, when his literary career is immense, plural and multiform, and he was in fact already an old man at the time of the polemic with the young people of 1870. In a brief overview of his critical reception, we start by reading this revealing description: ‘Far from the great European innovations of thought and art, a writer of mild literature, averse to high flights of intelligence and spiritual unease’ (Unsigned, 36). The almost unanimous idea shared by the critics is that Castilho’s literary production (ignoring his immense essay production) is provincial and aesthetically outdated, having both content and formal limitations. We only agree with the last reading, that Castilho’s work has (or will have more and more, as the 19th century goes on) formal limitations, and our opinion is radically different on the rest, which I will develop to the full throughout this text. The reason for all this is that the author, having been very popular in his time, is no longer read at all, even by critics, who often uncritically repeat what they have read about him. Another type of reaction is quasi-total erasure. A member of the first romantic generation, along with Garrett and Herculano, in Carlos Reis’s important Critical History of Portuguese Literature, published throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Castilho is only mentioned, and is not dealt with in any chapter or even sub-chapter of this history. Another misguided tendency is to point out that his work would only be read as neo-classical, and that his adherence to romanticism was a sort of ‘mistake’ (Junior, p. 164), which a careful reading does not confirm, either in aesthetic or doctrinal terms. For example, a book like Felicidade pela Agricultura is very much in line with utopian, romantic ruralist thinking, as is its style of writing.
4. Castilho views the Azores as clearly separate from mainland Portugal: ‘this example (…) that the Sociedade Micaelense is setting to all Portuguese territories, and even to the motherland itself’ (Castilho Citation1987, 38). João (Citation2008) discusses the founding of medical and surgical schools in the capitals of the overseas districts, stopping one step short of including the Azores in this category.
5. In fact, the guild already existed before the arrival of Castilho, who re-founded it in 1847. It fell into decline in the 1850s, corresponding with the time of Castilho’s departure. Cf. S.P.A.M. entry in the Enciclopédia Açoriana, http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ea/pesquisa/Default.aspx?id=10194.
6. See the very detailed account of the changes to the education system (Supico Citation1995–2001, I, 194–199). He wrote two textbooks: Primeiros Exercicios de Leitura para as Escolas da Sociedade dos Amigos das Lettras e Artes em S. Miguel, publicados pela mesma Sociedade, published in S. Miguel, in 1852 and Noções rudimentares, para uso da Escolas da Sociedade dos Amigos das Lettras e Artes em S. Miguel by A. F. Castilho, published in Ponta Delgada: Typ. da Rua das Artes 68, in 1850 (p. 196). He also wrote Ramalhate Poético (Supico Citation1995–2001, I, 199).
7. ‘The crisis of Cabralism and the European revolution of 1848 found him in São Miguel. Another Castilho emerged: an idealistically progressive Castilho (…) [who extols] the virtues of agricultural work, the “agrarian fraternity” between social classes, the establishment of farmers’ associations whose primary objective was education and the organization of mutual credit — laying the foundations for a reform of the country (…). All this without detriment to the existing political and religious institutions, obtaining due permission and support from them … ’ (Lopes and Saraiva Citation2000, 729). This unjust, superficial criticism culminated in aggressive accusations of ‘opportunism’ (Lopes and Saraiva Citation2000, 731). The two critics also make reference to ‘a Camões by two French authors (…) which (in a phenomenon common at the time) he passes off as his own’ (Lopes and Saraiva Citation2000, 730). This comment merely demonstrates that the authors have read neither the drama nor the two volumes of notes accompanying it.
8. Via the journal Agricultor Micaelense, he introduced typographic engraving on wood to São Miguel (Castilho Citation1863, II, 82–83). The article ‘Typographias em Ponta-Delgada’ (50–51), in no. 13 of the Revista dos Açores, published in 1851, notes that Castilho’s Typographia das Artes or Typographia do Castilho was the fourth on the island.
9. He adds further information in a controversial pamphlet: ‘Not a year and a half has passed since I disembarked here, and I have already produced for the public a treatise on mnemonics, another on versification and poetry, a drama — Camões —, an almost complete version of the Fasti of Ovid, a volume of an agricultural journal, a new method for teaching reading, a society of friends of literature and the arts, and through it a brilliant exhibition, and twenty schools; finally, I have introduced engraving and lithography: let the commission (…) achieve the same in 50 years as I did in so little time’ (Castilho, Citation1849, 7–8). We cannot expect Castilho to have been an exemplar of literary sociability, and so we do not deny his patronizing tendencies, as perfectly illustrated in this quotation. His polemicizing and domineering tendencies do not sit well with modesty; indeed, the entirety of this passage reads like a deluded boast.
10. The controversy was triggered by João José de Andrade, known as Papa Açorda, who was from Faial and wrote Cartista dos Açores (Supico Citation1995–2001, I, 91). He is the subject of a biography by Supico (Supico Citation1995–2001 II, 812–813), who reproduces the polemic in Supico (Citation1995, III, 1222–1230).
11. He responds to accusations of Phalansterianism (II, 123), suggesting that C. Fourrier’s legacy had a bad reputation at that time.
12. He left an agenda for the educational press: ‘Free some portion of the space that old habits will fill with unnecessary (or even harmful) novels, ridiculous anecdotes and vanities of all kinds from foreign journals for original translations or imitations, which, while teaching the farmer some useful new information regarding his trade, give him pride in his own eyes by proving that the Press, the wise and the grown and civilised nations do not hold him in contempt’ (Castilho Citation1987, 44).
13. Named in no. 54 of 7 December 1852, with José Joaquim d’Oliveira Machado Junior appointed as administrator. The society aimed to create (Revista, 208) a journal reading room and a literary gallery. The first opened in 1852 (Revista, 236). Cf. Supico (Supico Citation1995–2001, II, 633).
14. Cf. Torres (Citation1849): http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ea/pesquisa/Default.aspx?id=9716.
15. For example, in the article ‘Escripta repentina’ in no. 23 of 4 June 1851 (Revista, 91–92).
16. Castilho, with his authority as a theorizer of versification, makes a critical reference to the sonnet form (Revista, 151) in relation to satirical poet João José Jácome (1791–1838) from the Azores in a column in no. 38 published on 17 September 1851.
17. According to Bettencourt (Citation2017), the syntagm first appeared in 1852 in no. 70 of the Revista dos Açores, published on 28 April 1851. The section ‘São Miguel Poets’ appeared in one issue (Revista, 68), preceding the ‘Azorean Poets’ section.
18. Bettencourt’s theoretical models are Cândido (Citation1959), Cristóvão (Citation1983) and classical comparativism. He applies the model of national literature to a smaller context, which is a microcosm and an integral part of the wider context (Bettencourt Citation2017, 28).
19. In Formação da literatura brasileira (1959), Antonio Candido proposes the concept of literary system, defining his study as an investigation into the process of constitution of this system in Brazil, its ‘formation’. Candido’s thinking, with a historicist and Marxist bent, consists of a materialist interpretation of the formation of literary milieus. Literature, as a system, would be the combination of a set of producers and receivers, also requiring a continuity in time and space (25–27) which, according to him, begins with the Arcadian Poets of Minas Gerais. With an ideological basis in Brazilian nationalist thought, Candido’s thinking also implies the idea of the total continuity in time and space with the Brazilian national project, identifying a system with a national literary system. Candido’s approach has been widely used in Brazilian studies and also in the studies of Portuguese-speaking African literatures. In this essay, we agree with his historicist and materialist vision, but we disagree with the excessive literary nationalism which ultimately frames this vision.
20. We re-encounter Frederico Cabreira, cited in the notes to the drama Camões, in Macau; Leite, to whom the poet refers (1987, 207), is an intimate protégé of Castilho; Filipe do Quental is one of the directors of the primary schools supported by the society (Supico, I, 89). Severim was one of its founders (Torres Citation1849, 3).
21. ‘A flora’ (Revista Citation1851, 97/98; 105/106), ‘Invasão de mar’ (Revista Citation1851, 31–33) and ‘Ela’ (Revista Citation1851, 253–254, 256–258, 261–268).
22. B. José Torres was the first secretary of the Sociedade dos Amigos (Supico Citation1995–2001, II, p. 839) and attended a soirée dedicated to Castilho in November 1848, where he and the other guests recited eulogies in verse (Supico Citation1995–2001, I, 212).
23. This was not Castilho’s only appearance in the Asian Portuguese-language press, as the articles by L. F. Leite on Castilho were republished in the journal Tirocínio Literário in Nova Goa (Citation1862).
24. Cheng writes: ‘Macau is “read” as a Cultural Janus. Janus is a Roman god or numen, guardian of the doorways of dwelling houses and city gateways. He is usually portrayed with two faces looking in opposite directions and is denoted to have two contrasting characteristics. Hence, I would call Macau a Cultural Janus on both near literal and metaphorical planes. It is because Macau is China’s “gate” to the outside world and has two faces: the face of Chinese civilization and the face of Portuguese legacies. Since Macau has been nurtured by two dominant yet contrasting cultures, it is a Januslike ecumene having two culturally different aspects’ (Cheng Citation1999, 4).
25. Bordalo [signed F. M. B.] writes in ‘Parte não Official’: ‘This war that rages near us but does not affect us, this question of dynasty that is debated in Kuang Si is very far from being one of those struggles that convulse Europe and America, after half a century, humanity will not advance a single step on the path of civilisation, whether or not Ming’s descendant is defeated, because the hour of movement has not yet sounded for China (…) We are outside this circle of activity, I repeat, but this does not mean that we, humble workers, should cease to contribute our stone to the great social edifice; let us look after this land that is ours, let us join forces to pull Macau out of the doldrums that are consuming it’ (Bordalo Citation1852, 4).
26. It is published almost unaltered in Castilho (Citation1862, I, 9).
27. Volume II refers to Confucius (1862, II, 463).
28. He was a soldier who served his career in Asia, first in the state of India, where he held positions including reader in Mathematics, director of the Military Academy in Goa and commander-general of Artillery. He worked with Revista dos Açores. He held public and military roles in the Azores, Goa and Timor. One of his works was published in Goa: Noticia histórica e notas de introdução à Instrucção dada pelo Vice-rei, Marquez de Alorna, ao seu sucessor Marquez de Távora (1836). Others were published in a variety of journals. Some of his works have been digitalized in BNP digital.
29. The text is held in the reserves at the National Library of Portugal in manuscript format, with some differences.
30. It has, indeed, much to do with Castilho, who exposes the private in the public through the letter and the newspaper chronicle, being the origin of the latter no more than an articulate series of semi-private correspondences by letter (Goodman Citation1994, 142): ‘The Republic of Letters rose with the modern political state (…) out of the articulation of public and private spheres, citizen and state, agent and critic’ (Goodman Citation1994, 2).
31. Referring to Modernist poetry in particular, Kristeva writes: ‘Pour les textes poétiques de la modernité c’est, pourrions-nous dire sans exagérer, une loi fondamentale: ils se font en absorbant et en détruisant en même temps les autres textes de l’espace intertextuel; ils sont pour ainsi dire des alter-jonctions discursives’ (1969, 196).
32. Here I am not referring to specific intellectuals from Goa or from Macau or the Azores; I am referring instead to the writers and collaborators from all these spaces being not necessarily born in those spaces from local families. They would thus be seen as the community that is rooted in those places at the time, including Naturals, Luso-descendants and even colonial bureaucrats.
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Duarte Drumond Braga
Duarte Drumond Braga is a researcher, lecturer and poet (b. Lisbon, 1981). FCT CEEC Junior Researcher at the Centre for Comparative Studies, CEComp (University of Lisbon) from 2019 to the present. Assistant Professor of Portuguese Studies at Macau University of Science and Technology (2018–2019). Postdoctoral fellow at the University of São Paulo’s School of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences (2014–2018), Brazil. He holds a PhD (2014) and an MA (2006) in Comparative Studies from the School of Arts of the University of Lisbon. He graduated from the same university’s Programme in Portuguese Studies. He has published several edited volumes, journal issues and articles on Portuguese orientalism and Goa and Macau literatures in Portuguese. Among his other research interests are Portuguese (language) literature from Romanticism to Modernism, in particular poetry. He is currently the coordinator of PORT ASIA - Asian Writing in Portuguese: mapping literary and intellectual archives in Lisbon and Macau (1820–1955), a project funded by FCT (Portuguese Research Council).