Mário de Sá-Carneiro: Em Ouro e Alma — Correspondência com Fernando Pessoa

Abstract

Portuguese Studies vol. 33 no. 2 (2017), 235–53© Modern Humanities Research Association 2017 Reviews JerónimoPizarroandRicardoVasconcelos(editors),MáriodeSá-Carneiro: Em Ouro e Alma — Correspondência com Fernando Pessoa (Lisbon: Tinta da China, 2015). 672 pages. Print. Reviewed by Adriane Figueira Batista (Universidade de São Paulo/FFLCH) In November 2015, Portuguese publisher Tinta da China released an extensive critical edition of the letters exchanged between Mário de Sá-Carneiro (1890–1916) and Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935), entitled Em Ouro e Alma. The editors are Ricardo Vasconcelos (who has written extensively on Sá-Carneiro) and Jerónimo Pizarro (who has overseen Tinta da China’s critical editions of Pessoa’s work). Alongside letters and documents already available to the public and critics, the editors have sought to bring unpublished texts to light, so that they can help us understand the dialogue between the two poets and the literary trajectory of Sá-Carneiro’s short, yet fruitful, life. Through these carefully collected and chronologically organized letters, readers are able to wander the urban spaces of Paris and intuit the atmosphere of French culture and society at the beginning of the twentieth century, the geographical and chronological milieu in which Mário de Sá-Carneiro drafted many of his works, which were left to Fernando Pessoa and published post-mortem. The most distinctive aspect of Em Ouro e Alma is the significant number of references to important scholars and artists of the time, as well as to literary journals, spaces and organs associated with literature and art in early twentiethcentury Europe. Sá-Carneiro wrote often to Pessoa, sending letters in which he outlined his projects, as well as simple postcards and unpublished texts for the critical eye of his friend. It was an intense exchange of information that showed considerable dedication and effort. Though at times melancholic and dramatic in tone, Sá-Carneiro’s letters do not reveal the dark, tragic and suicidal nature often attributed to him. All in all, the letters display instead a sarcastic, self-depreciating, and mildly comic poet, who enjoyed observing the artistic trends blooming during the early 1900s in Europe — a period which saw the beginning of modern art, especially Cubism and Futurism. Paris was Sá-Carneiro’s oasis. During his time in the French capital — at that time the cultural centre of the Western world — the poet actively participated in intellectual and artistic circles until his premature death. The letters addressed to Pessoa, which to a degree introduced Modern art to Portugal, and kick-started an intense dialogue between the poets, show Reviews 236 the genesis of the authors’ literary creations, not to mention the exchange of information that gave rise to Fernando Pessoa’s pseudonyms. Furthermore, the written conversation between the poets sowed the seeds for a literary journal named Orpheu, and was very important in establishing Mário de Sá-Carneiro as one of the great names in Portuguese literature. In Em Ouro e Alma, readers revisit Sá-Carneiro’s works and learn about the creation of Orpheu, which, lacking funding, lasted only two editions. The literary journal began when both Sá-Carneiro and Pessoa were living in Portugal, which accounts for the small number of letters exchanged between them at this point, though these stand testimony to the first steps of the ambitious project that this short-lived journal represented. Sá-Carneiro considered Pessoa a poet of great talent and advised his friend to put aside comments and reviews to focus solely on his poetry. The two poets influenced each other greatly and the exchange of manuscripts between them was essential to their legacy to Portuguese literature and modern art. Fernando Pessoa was chosen to edit, review, and read the works of Mário de Sá-Carneiro, which he did willingly and respectfully, even after his friend’s death. Although it can be confusing at times, the maintenance of the original spellings is an enriching element of this Tinta da China edition. Sá-Carneiro’s diction deviates from standard Portuguese, which differentiates his writing from Pessoa’s. Considered by the editors and by Pessoa himself as a master of the language, Sá-Carneiro concentrated on idiosyncrasies — favouring sound over orthography...