Monday, April 13, 2020
Portugal and Pessoa, a Binary Passion
Pessoa,
the Isolated Author
Fernando
Pessoa and all his heteronyms, these folding screens behind which the real
human being known as Fernando Pessoa was hiding from view, was a great puppet
master who was even able to puppeteer his own personal puppet that was, of
course, nothing comparable to the isolated and probably slightly autistic and
psychotic man he was. But we will never know, and do we want to know the real
suffering of the man? The writings of these heteronyms, these personae the
author assumed to protect himself are all that is important and all we should
be looking at and considering. These books are haunted by the fear to be
discovered and revealed, if not exposed in all his shortcomings, failings, but
also beliefs he did not dare reveal to the world and the people close to him,
though we seem to know there were not many people around him.
It
is strange how an Asperger recluse has become nearly one century later a
haunting ghost in the closet of secret literature, the literature of the secret
you do not want to reveal to the world about yourself. And it is all built on
one real author playing personae with his audience and these readers will never
know who the author is because of this distancing game. Pessoa's fiery secret
personality was constant torture to him, to the point of him trying to
extinguish it in alcohol and social distancing, in one or two words, alcoholic
exclusion.
Medium.com
2020
# posted by Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU @ 1:28 AM 
