The Portuguese Letters – Although they belong to French literature, they are almost better known in Portugal than in itheir original country. The name concerns five letters, published in Paris in 1669, with no author’s name, and with the mention “translated from Portuguese”. Modern critics attribute this text, with a certain assurance, to Gabriel de Lavergne de Guilleragues, a diplomat and man of letters who didn’t write any other notable work. The letters are sent by a Portuguese nun to a French naval officer with whom she had an affair and who abandoned her. When they were published they aroused a controversy concerning their “authenticity”. In fact, Mariana Alcoforado really existed, and lived a similar passion in her convent in Beja. The Letters’ author surely knew this story. But there’s no indicationthat he had seen the real nun’s writings, and several elements make it impossible for them to be a translation: among other details, the heroine says in one of her letters that from the balcony of her convent cell in Beja, a city located in inland Alentejo, near the Spanish border, she contemplates… the sea. The text doesn’t have any dramatic structure, but the readers have always been stricken by the psychological truth it carries. Rilke translated the Letters into German, and the poet Eugénio de Andrade, among others, gave a version in Portuguese.
O Encoberto – the Hidden One – The origin of the Encoberto myth can probably be found in Hebraic messianism, and arose in the begin of the 16th century, when Cristãos-novos, Portuguese Jews forced to convert, and their fellow believers in exile, hoped to return to their religion and homeland thanks to the coming of a Saviour. These mystical beliefs were expressed for the first time in literary form by Bandarra the shoemaker, an Old-Christian himself, whose prophetic verses were condemned for “Judaism” by the Inquisition. But this idea took on another meaning when, in 1582, after a dynastic crisis, Portugal was incorporated into the crown of Castile. The idea then spread that the young king D. Sebastião, whom nobody had seen die in the battle of Alcacer Quibir, was only hiding, and would return to restore Portuguese independence. Independence became a reality after the 1640 revolution and the instauration of the Bragança dynasty, but that didn’t put an end to the idea of the Encoberto’s return. On the contrary, the great preacher and writer Father António Vieira, in História do futuro and other texts, developped the myth: D. Sebastião (who traditionally must return on a white horse, on a day with fog over the Tagus) will appear in several incarnations, and always in an unexpected way. When he returns definitively, it will be to establish the Fifth Empire, a state of universal peace. This myth has had a huge influence on Portuguese culture, up until Fernando Pessoa, who thought himself to be –and who perhaps was- one of the incarnations of the Encoberto.
Fado – The name of this musical and poetic form comes from a dance practiced by the black slaves in Brazil, in the 18th century, and which is thought to have influenced the lunduns, a sub-genre of the modinhas appreciated in Lisbon salons in “classical” times. Around 1830 fado returned to its popular origins in a form of song that could be heard in the taverns and brothels of the Mouraria a poor neighbourhood in the capital, and it continued to develop as a living art until today. It is a monodic song-form, accompanied by the twelve cord Portuguese guitar, and the viola, or classical guitar. The interpretation of the text is very important, and while the viola keeps the bass and a regular rhythm, the singer and the Portuguese guitar player can provide ornaments and diminutions, as in baroque music. The texts, sometimes written by the fadistas themselves, or by great poets (in the film, “M.F.” Is by Aldina Duarte, while “Ser aquele” and “Mote” are by Fernando Pessoa) often use existing melodies, adapted to become the particular expression of the poem. Fado corresponds to the etymology of its name, since in most cases it is the expression of a destiny, that is simultaneously a regretted past and a desired future, both meeting in the present. Between the beginning of the 20th century and the 1974 Revolution, fado attained its golden age, with Amália Rodrigues, Maria Teresa de Noronha, Alfredo Marceneiro, Lucília do Carmo, and Argentina Santos (who still sings). Since then a new generation of artists has emerged. Besides Camané and Aldina Duarte, whom we hear and see in the film, we should mention Hélder Moutinho, Pedro Moutinho (Camané’s brothers), and among the youngest artists, Carminho and Marco Oliveira. In real fado houses singing takes place very late in the evening, or during the night, in a semi-obscurity, and the performers frequently keep their eyes shut. Fado is closely tied to the city of Lisbon, but another form of fado, quite different, is sung by students in Coimbra.
