Orbits, a Labyrinth and Chaos: The Philosophy and Poetry of the Poetics of Selfhood in the Work of Paulo Cardoso Jesus

Abstract

This essay analyzes how Paulo Cardoso Jesus translates in his poetry as a narrative exercise the conception of the poetics of selfhood that he develops in his philosophical work as a reflexive exercise in three dimensions: the ‘I that produces itself’ (autonomy) in Órbitas; the ‘given Self’ (heteronomy) in Labirinto; and the ‘dialogical Self’ in relation to the other in Caos. In Órbitas, Eva Ferreira creates herself as if she were creating the universe. In Labirinto, she is confronted with an external donor, her own body. In Caos, the skin, which is a metaphor for all external data, takes on a dialogical shape – the touch is a metaphor for the relationship with the other.