O labirinto da saudade from outside and after

Abstract

In this text, my aim is to analyse and interpret O labirinto da saudade from the perspective of the years since 1982, and with a distant gaze from outside Portugal. In my reading, I emphasise the main thread and essential aspects of Eduardo Lourenço’s critical reflection on the mentality of the Portuguese when thinking about their country in history and up until the last decades of the 20th century. The central theme is the revision of the image of Portugal, the conceptions provided by literature, dominant in political culture, used by the elites and shared by the people. Lourenço points to four key formulations, from Camões, Eça, Pascoaes and Pessoa, which later in their political and cultural use, in the thinking of the elites and in the popular imagination, are characterised by hyperbole and unrealism. Hence the difficulties, distortions, and inability to understand history and the present, diagnose problems, promote solutions, and develop effective and constructive courses of action. Lourenço makes these reflections on Portugal within the framework of a general analysis and critique of contemporary Western culture, as I have also highlighted in my reading, emphasising their relevance and topicality.