Lecture on Fernando Pessoa and The Book of Disquiet

Introduction

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Fernando Pessoa: A Brief Biography

• Born: 1888, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Early Life:
  • Lost father to tuberculosis at age 5.
  • Younger brother died the following year.
  • Mother remarried; family moved to South Africa.
• South Africa:
  • Became fluent in English.
  • Developed appreciation for English literature.
• Return to Lisbon: Age 17; spent the rest of his life there.

Writing Career

• Died in 1935 at age 47.
• Published few books during his lifetime; largely unnoticed.
• Manuscript of The Book of Disquiet along with tens of thousands of pages found in a trunk after his death.
• The Book of Disquiet published in 1982, 47 years after his death.

The Book of Disquiet

• Considered one of the most unique and important literary works of the 20th century.
• Structure:
  • Collection of fragmented vignettes.
  • Style: Between diary entries and poetry.
  • No linear order; can be read backwards or forwards.
• Authors: Credited to fictional characters Bernardo Soares and possibly Vicente Guedes.
• Use of Heteronyms:
  • Different pseudonyms with distinct writing styles and personalities.
  • About 80 heteronyms used throughout his life.
• Themes:
  • Reality and dreaming.
  • Tedium and selfhood.
  • Absurdity and futility of being.
  • Complexity and simplicity of life.
  • Contradiction and paradox.
  • Alienation, disorientation, and loneliness.

Philosophical Insights

• Fragmented and illusory nature of the self.
• Self-understanding as a form of free fall.
• Alienation and disorientation of being a person.
• Tedium, futility, and meaninglessness:
  • Life as a sequence of dreams.
  • Inner life as the only real concern.
• Paradox in art and literature:
  • Creating to express the pointlessness of creation.
• Unfinished Work:
  • Mirror of Pessoa's philosophical conception of existence.
  • Book finished by time, not intention.

Metaphysical and Symbolic Aspects

• Pessoa's name translates to "person" in English.
• Prophetic nature:
  • Passages in the book foresee its future recognition.
  • Describes future admiration after his death.
• The Book of Disquiet as a religious book for atheists, a manual for nihilists.

Conclusion

• The Book of Disquiet comfort in its disquieting themes.
• Exposure to the ailment as part of the treatment.

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