Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2005 (17. évfolyam, 2-50. szám)
2005-03-18 / 12. szám
„Fernando Pessoa, the Incurable Outsider” Lecture at UCLA by Eugenio Lisboa Professor, University of Aveiro, Portugal The Faculty Center at UCLA was the site of a most interesting lecture on Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa last Thursday night. The presenter was renowned poet and scholar Eugenio Lisboa, the occasion, the second Rebecca D. Catz Memorial lecture. Fernando Pessoa was born on June 13, 1888 in Lisboa. His father died when Pessoa was 5, and his mother married the Portuguese consul in Durban, South Africa. At the age of 17 he returned to Lisbon, studied at the university there and soon started to write. What is so intriguing about the life and works of Pessoa is his many “alter egos” he called “heteronyms” (a word he coined himself, meaning distinctly different personalities, each with his own style and method of writing. There are at least four poets among them: Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Alvaro de Campos and the poet as himself. One is soon struck by an external difference between their poems. Those of Caeiro are free verse; so (though very different in tone) are nearly all those of Campos; those of Reis metrical but unrhymed; Pessoa’s own, except a few of the early ones, metrical and closely rhymed. This may come about unconsciously, but was surely no accident. Pessoa was a poet who wrote poets as well as poems. Literary alter egos were popular among early twentieth-century writers: Pound had Mauberley, Rilke had Malte Laurids Brigge, and Valéry had Monsieur Teste. But no one took their alter ego as far as Pessoa, who gave up his own life to confer quasi-real substance on the poets he designated at heteronyms, giving each a personal biography, psychology, politics, aesthetics, religion, and physique. Alberto Caeiro was an ingenuous, unlettered, unemployed man of the country. Ricardo Reis was a doctor and classicist who wrote Horace -like odes. Álvaro de Campos, a naval engineer, was a bisexual dandy who studied in Glasgow, traveled to the Orient, and lived outrageously in London. In an English text, Pessoa wrote, “Caeiro has one discipline: things must be felt as they are. Ricardo Reis has another kind of discipline: things must be felt, not only as they are, but also so as to fall in with a certain ideal of classic measure and rule. In Álvaro de Campos things must simply be felt.” In later years, Pessoa also gave birth to Bernardo Soares, a “semiheteronym” who authored the sprawling fictional diary known as The Book of Disquietude ; Antonio Mora, a prolific philosopher and sociologist; the Baron of Teive, an essayist; Thomas Crosse, whose critical writings in English promoted Portuguese literature in general and Alberto Caeiro’s work in particular; I. I. Crosse, Thomas’s brother and collaborator; Coelho Pacheco, poet; Raphael Baldaya, astrologer; Maria Jósé, a nineteen-yearold hunchback consumptive who wrote a desperate, unmailed love letter to a handsome metalworker who passed under her window on his way to work each day; and so on. He describes the birth of Alberto Caeiro like this: On the day when I finally desisted - it was the 8th of March, 1914 - I went over to a high desk and, taking a sheet of paper, began to write, standing, as I always write when I can. And I wrote thirty-odd poems straight off, in a kind of ecstasy whose nature I cannot define. It was the triumphal day of my life, and I shall never be able to have another like it. I started with a title - ‘The Keeper of Sheep’. And what followed was the apparition of somebody in me, to whom I at once gave the name of Alberto Caeiro. Forgive me that absurdity of the phrase: my master had appeared in me. This was the immediate sensation I had.” As soon as he had written the thirty-odd poems of Caeiro’s, I immediately seized another sheet of paper and wrote, also straight off, the six poems that make up Fernando Pessoa’s ‘Chuva Obliqua’. Immediately and completely ... It was the return of Fernando Pessoa Alberto Caeiro to Fernando Pessoa himself alone. Or better, it was the reaction of Fernando Pessoa against his own non-existence as Alberto Caeiro. The visiting professor quoted some of Pessoa’s poetry and answered questions after his presentation. I asked him if he knew of the work of Antonio Tabucchi (the main Italian translator of Pessoa) who wrote a play about an imaginary meeting between Pessoa and Pirandello. He certainly did, and he clarified some aspects of Pessoa’s reluctance to give up his freedom - even for a steady job. The evening concluded with a reception at the Faculty Center. Photo and Article by SUSAN JANCSO ENGLISH PAGE DUNA Travel 8530 Holloway Dr. #102 W. Hollywood, CA 90069 SPECIÁLIS ÁR LAX-BUD-LAX $570- +TX. Információért hívják ZSUZSÁT TEL: (310) 652-5294 FAX: (310) 652-5287 1-888-532-0168 Március 18,2005 *9 CONGRATULATIONS To Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa on his significant victory in the Mayoral Elections of March 8! Mr. Villaraigosa emerged as the clear frontrunner, winning over 33 percent of the votes. Mr. Hahn managed to gather only 23.7 percent, while Bob Hertzberg came in third with 22.1 percent. The runoff election will take place on May . 17 between the challenger, Antonio Villaraigosa, and the incumbent, James Hahn. We urge our readers to exercise their right and VOTE! Eva Szörényi Open letter to Condoleeza Rice Dear Madam Secretary, I am Eva Szörényi, an award-winning actress of Hungary, who is also president of REMEMBER HUNGARY 1956 committee. We Hungarians in the United States gather under this organization for the upcoming 50th anniversary year of our revolution to remind the peoples of the world of the blood-covered streets of Budapest when we spontaneously rose against Soviet occupation, tyranny, and its military forces. History proves that the self-destruction of the Soviet Union had begun in Budapest. Our nation’s loss was much greater than the neighboring countries when 5000 Soviet tanks and 300,000 military troops crushed the revolution. Besides the loss of tens of thousands of lives, of which 20% were under 18 years of age, more than 200,000 Hungarians fled to the West in fear for their lives; myself and my family included. Keeping these facts in mind, as president of the Committee, respectfully I want Madam Secretary to know that the Hungarians were saddened by the fact than among the nations which rebelled against Communism our country was not mentioned in your speech during your visit to European countries. This upcoming year, we Hungarians in commemoration of this historical event are doing several programs throughout the year. We are hoping that the Federal Government of our beloved adopted country will send someone to our commemorative event in October of 2006, who would verbally acknowledge the bravery of my countrymen against that powerful historical giant. We refugees are those who thoroughly understand our President’s speeches about nations yearning for the liberty and freedom In 1956, Stalin’s statue was dragged down from its pedestal in the similar manner as of Saddam Hussein’s without the security of protection of an other nation standing behind us. Dear Madam Secretary, I am asking you respectfully to help us in our effort to remind people , especially in the anniversary year, of the sacrifice the Hungarians so willingly made in the hope for freedom. Your kind response will be exceptionally appreciated. Respectfully Yours, f _ Kedves Honfitársam, Amennyiben ezen levél tartalmával egyetért, nagyon kérem, küldjön hasonló levelet Condoleezza Rice miniszter asszonynak. Tüdtommal a kormány válasza a beküldött levelek mennyiségétől függ. Köszönöm. É. Sz. Professor Eugenio Lisboa from Portugal and Brian Copenhaver, Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies AMERIKAI Magyar Hírlap
