Regionalisms and Resistance in the Twentieth-Century Portuguese Novel / Peter Haysom.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Haysom, Peter, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ideology in literature.

Regionalism in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (184 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Modern Humanities Research Association, 2024.

Summary:

Often regarded as a small and homogeneous country, modern Portugal has frequently displayed clear regional tensions, on several 'axes': between its capital, Lisbon, and more neglected cities and towns; between its developed coastline and its (noticeably declining) inland villages; between the relatively conservative small-holding communities of the North and the politically radical tenant farmers of the South, amongst others. Examining twentieth-century novelists' treatment of such geographical precepts leads one to ponder: what relationships exist between ideology and (regional) spaces? Through analysis of narrative fiction, how can one better comprehend the complex geographical grievances and identity politics that are increasingly characterising ideo­logical discourses across Western nations? The novels of Aquilino Ribeiro (1885-1963), Agustina Bessa-Luís (1922-2019), Lídia Jorge (1946-) and José Saramago (1922-2010) all have their part to play, in this quest for greater understanding of Portuguese regionalisms and resistances.

Contents:

Introduction: politicizing the region, resisting through the rustic

'Outside Lisbon there is nothing': political and cultural regionalisms in modern Portugal

'A cheap rebellion': Aquilino Ribeiro's ambivalent regional resistance

'I don't identify with this feminist provincialism': the regionalist sexual politics of Agustina Bessa-Luís and Lídia Jorge

'We imagined we lived at the end of the world': José Saramago's militant particularisms

Afterword: home and back again?.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.