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Ana Raquel Fernandes (University of Lisbon) Un scandale n'est pas un homme In order to understand women's literature in Portugal since the seventies I am going back in time, back to the '60s and '70s with Maria Teresa Horta (born in 1937) and even further back to the '20s with Judith Teixeira (1880-1959). My aim is to focus on the poetry written by these two women poets in Portugal in two important historical periods, firstly, during the troubled years preceding the setting up of dictatorship in 1926 and later in the period before the 1974 democratic revolution. For this task I have selected two collections of poems which I consider highly representative of their poetry: Decadência (Decadence, 1923) by Judith Teixeira and Minha Senhora de Mim (Milady of Me, 1971) by Maria Teresa Horta. By developing a comparative study of these two works, I hope to contribute, even if briefly, to a better understanding of the challenges made to assumptions underlying the politics of representation in Portuguese society at least until the end of dictatorship. Indeed, at a time when most women were confined to the home and very few had the right to vote, the authors of the works I am referring to play a subversive role. The reality in which women lived is clearly understood in a speech made by the dictator Salazar in 1933: "Women's work outside the family sphere desintegrates home life, separates its different members, and makes them strangers to each other..." [2] And as far as the right to vote is concerned, in 1931 only women with a degree could vote, while for men it would be enough to be able to read and write and "even during the liberal 1960s, little happened to change the course of women's rights in Portugal." [3] Through their literary works both Judite Teixeira and Maria Teresa Horta clearly challenge the reality in which Portuguese women lived, breaking with social and literary conventions. Censorship and Decadência Both collections of poems, Decadência (Decadence) and Minha Senhora de Mim (Milady of Me), explore themes of love and passion through images of the female body. Decadência – Poemas (Decadence – Poems) by Judith Teixeira was first published in February 1923. The first edition is lost. However, the second edition – printed on the 28th of December 1923 – contains thirty-five poems written between May 1919 and December 1922. It was Judith's first work and a success at the time of publication. On 16th of February 1923, the well-known daily newspaper Diário de Lisboa, reviewing the book, makes the following comment: Com desusado luxo, em outros tempos incompatível com as musas, mas com certo bom gosto, acaba a distintíssima poetisa Judith Teixeira de publicar um volume de versos, intitulado Decadência. Neste livro, de um merecimento indiscutível, encontram-se versos de estranho e sensualíssimo perfume. (Diário de Lisboa, 16.2.1923, sem título, 1) [4] In poems such as "Flores de Cactus" ("Cactus flowers"), "Liberta" ("Free"), "Os meus cabelos" ("My hair"), "Perfis Decadentes" ("Decadent Profiles"), and "A Minha Colcha Encarnada" ("My Red Bedspread"), among others, the reader finds him/herself in a Baudelarian world. He/She will most probably establish a dialogue with certain poems compiled in Les Fleurs du Mal, in which women, women's hair, women's bodies, perfumes, colours, beauty, erotic and sensual love as well as anguished love are common references. [5] Let us take as an example the poem "Perfis Decadentes" ("Decadent Profiles") by Judith Teixeira in which the elements referred above are present [6] : Através dos vitrais In the years preceding the National Revolution on the 28th of May 1926, there was a growing political unrest, which led to an increase of censorship. Notwithstanding the success of Decadência, this work, as well as Sodoma Divinizada (Divinized Sodom, 1923) by Raúl Leal and Canções (Songs, 1921) by António Botto, were a major target for the "Liga de Acção dos Estudantes de Lisboa," a group whose members were also members of the Catholic Centre and who defended conservative moral standards. According to Teotónio Pereira, its leader, their goal was: [Q]ueimar a ferro em brasa, expondo-os à luz do sol, esses cancros nauseabundos que têm medrado à custa da fraqueza de uns e da tolerância incompreensível de outros. [...] Fiscalizar as livrarias e meter também na ordem os artistas decadentes, os poetas de Sodoma, os editores, autores e vendedores de livros imorais [...]. Discretamente, já principiámos. (in Aníbal Fernandes, (ed.), 92) [8] On the 5th of March 1923, Decadência and the two previously mentioned books were considered immoral and banned by the authorities and later on, at an uncertain date, burnt. [9] When the third and last book of poems by Judith Teixeira is published, entitled Nua - Poemas de Bizâncio (Naked – Poems of Byzantium, 1926) [10] , Marcello Caetano, the founding member and editor of the magazine Ordem Nova, wrote an article entitled "Arte" sem moral nenhuma ("Art" without morals), in which he attacks Judith Teixeira's poetry. According to Marcello Caetano, other authors were able to write good erotic poetry, among whom António Feijó, Bocage and Gregório Matos. However, the judgement Marcello Caetano put forward was not so much on the literary quality of Judith Teixeira's poetry as on the writer herself and her lack of morals in describing her "pillow secrets" to the public. In his words, Judith was a shameless woman ("uma desenvergonhada"): Que degradação! [...] O que é pior é que estas manifestações de pouca vergonha nem sequer têm uma forma decente; nem, ao menos, uma certa graça como a que António Feijó punha nos seus versos eróticos, de sabor tão puramente clássico, ou o plebeísmo forte e pitoresco moldado em formas duma impecável correcção que se nota na poesia obscena de Bocage, ou na de Gregório Matos. Nada disso. [...] Tudo aquilo é mesquinho, é ordinário e reles. (Marcello Caetano, 156-58) [11] Eroticism in Minha Senhora de Mim Notwithstanding the time gap, and especially the different traditions both poets invoke, the link between Judith Teixeira and Maria Teresa Horta is based on a common feature: subversion. By adopting taboo words, highly explicit descriptions of physical love, dealing with the relationship between women and men, women and other women and women and their image of themselves, their poetic works break with the literary establishment. Indeed, just like it happens with the poems by Judith Teixeira in Decadência, those by Maria Teresa Horta – and I am thinking particularly of a specific collection of poems, entitled Minha Senhora de Mim (Milady of Me, 1971) – are constructed out of a language of the body, exploring physical and erotic love. These topics were acceptable from a male point of view at the time the two literary works were published but were questionable when presented from a female perspective. [12] Minha Senhora de Mim, a volume of fifty-nine poems, has much of the flavour present in "cantigas de amigo." These compositions were typical of Galician-Portuguese poetry in medieval times. They were part of the legacy of trobadour poetry, with the special peculiarity of placing the responsibility of their enunciation upon a woman. Just like in the "paralelísticas" (parallel verses), a particular type of "cantigas," in which its repetitive structure enriches the meaning, the repetition present in Minha Senhora de Mim also creates an effect of litany and incantation. [13] Take as an example the following poem in the collection [14] : Minha Senhora de Mim Nevertheless, Maria Teresa Horta does not recreate the myth of sorrow; on the contrary, the poet expresses a "refreshingly open feminine assertiveness." [16] As Ana Marques Gastão writes in the newspaper Diário de Notícias, dated the 13th of November 2001, following the reprint of Teresa Horta's book (Gótica 2001): [A poetisa] elabora um discurso metafórico nu, fazendo reviver o desejo e o sofrimento perante o amado distante até ao ponto em que esse próprio desejo é extravazado na paz de o próprio corpo se deixar absorver por ele [...]. (Ana Marques Gastão, 44) [17] Some examples of what has been said are poems such as "O Meu Desejo" ("My Desire") or "Antecipação" ("Anticipation") [18] : Antecipação Minha Senhora de Mim has its starting point in one of the most significant traditions in Portuguese medieval poetry but eventually breaks away from it. It is a subversive work, one in which a woman challenges limits, reversing the common literary treatment of subject/object current at the time. It is the poet's free and bold treatment of the body, of physical love, of sexuality that is seen by public opinion in the '70s as an excess. Indeed, both public and official responses to the book are overwhelmingly critical. Shortly after the book is published [20] , Nelson de Matos wrote: Trata-se de uma poesia que claramente se joga na utilização de uns quantos processos que, parecendo de desenvoltura, são apenas de facilidade. Bastante limitada ao nível do que diz e das palavras em que pretende dizer-se [...]. Na terceira e última parte deste livro, sem dúvida aquela em que se pressente um esforço de maior violência [...], pretende Teresa Horta como que o regresso a um certo erotismo que, bem de outro modo, se encontrava patente na sua poesia do início dos anos 60. Tal não é no entanto conseguido [...]. Tomou portanto uma grave opção que a sua escrita não pôde deixar de manifestar. [...] Várias idas à televisão, discos, lançamento de livros em elegantes soirées, direcção de uma página literária altamente comprometida – são outros dos aspectos em que essa opção se nos pode tornar legível.. (Nelson de Matos, 226-236) [21] Eventually, the book was banned on account of its eroticism. However, exactly because of the outcry raised by the publication of Minha Senhora de Mim and its subsequent ban, the book would come to play a decisive role in the development of Portuguese interventionist literature during the last years of dictatorship. Indeed, it laid the ground for Novas Cartas Portuguesas (New Portuguese Letters 1972), which, together with Portugal e o Futuro by the General António de Spínola (Portugal and the Future, February 1974), and due to its international acclaim – it was highly regarded by feminists around the world [22] - played an important role in the downfall of a regime already in its death throes. [23] As Maria Teresa Horta explains in an interview given to the literary journal Textos e Pretextos: [A ideia das Novas Cartas Portuguesas] [s]urgiu quando o meu livro Minha Senhora de Mim foi proibido pela PIDE, e escandalizou meio mundo, desde os anónimos que me descompunham pelo telefone e me mandavam cartas não assinadas, àqueles que me ameaçavam todos os dias. Foram meses de violência inconcebível, que me deixaram desanimada. Nós as três [Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Velho da Costa e Maria Teresa Horta] já éramos amigas, encontrávamo-nos muitas vezes, almoçávamos juntas uma vez por semana. Num desses almoços, a Maria Velho da Costa levantou a questão: se uma escritora levanta tanta indignação, o que aconteceria se três escritoras escrevessem um livro juntas, a falar de tudo aquilo e muito mais, do que eu tratava nos meus poemas... [24] Thus, Maria Teresa Horta's book not only challenged the models offered by the literary establishment in the '70s, but also anticipated the well-known revolutionary work entitled Novas Cartas Portuguesas, which, as I have pointed out, played an important role in the downfall of the regime. Conclusion: "does anyone remember the name...?" Despite the importance of her work, there is a growing silence around the author Maria Teresa Horta, one similar to the silence surrounding Judith Teixeira's poetic work. Indeed, as far as the latter is concerned, the question raised by António Manuel Couto Viana in November 1974, "Does anyone remember the name: Judith Teixeira? It won't be easy..." [25] is still representative of her status today. Notwithstanding, Maria Teresa Horta has been and is still today an important reference to certain contemporary Portuguese writers: Helena Marques, Lídia Jorge, Ana Luísa Amaral, Adília Lopes, Inês Pedrosa, whose work would be worth studying in connection with Horta's literary output. [26] To conclude, let me add that a full understanding of the reasons why Judith Teixeira and Maria Teresa Horta were silenced, that is, how they undermined a male-dominated canon and tradition, will help us break the silence and make both their lives and work more widely known. This way we will be able to appreciate better the impact they had on Portuguese society and literature and, especially, the impact they still have on literary production in Portugal in our time. Acknowledgement The author would like to thank Maria Teresa Horta for her kind advice. Works Cited Anon. "Apreensão de livros. os estudantes de varias faculdades dirigem-se ao governo civil a pedirem a apreensão." A Capital, 5.3.1923: 2 [unsigned title]. ---. "Minha Senhora de Mim." A Capital, 2.5.1971: 5 [unsigned article]. Baudelaire, Charles. Les fleurs du mal suivies du spleen de paris. Introduction de Blaise Allan. Lausanne: La guilde du livre, 1947. Caetano, Marcello. ""Arte" sem moral nenhuma". Ordem nova, 4-5, Junho-Julho 1926: 156-58. Diário deLisboa, 16.2.1923: 1 [without title]. Fernandes, Ana Raquel, Cláudia Coutinho and Sara Ramos Pinto. 'Conversa com Maria Teresa Horta.' Textos e Pretextos, 3, Inverno 2003: 59-63. Gastão, Ana Marques. 'Minha Senhora do Silêncio.' Diário de Notícias, 13.11.2001: 44. Horta, Maria Teresa. Minha Senhora de Mim. Lisboa: Gótica, 2001. Leal, Raúl. Sodoma divinizada. Aníbal Fernandes (ed). Lisboa: Hiena Editora, 1989. Macedo, Helder. (ed.) Modern poetry in translation 13/14 – Portugal. Compton Chamberlain: The Compton Press Limited, 1972. Matos, Nelson. A leitura e a crítica: ensaios. Lisboa: Editorial Estampa, 1971. Revolução Nacional, 1, 21.6.1926: 1. Sadlier, Darlene Joy. "Radical form in novas cartas portuguesas," The question of how – women writers and new Portuguese literature. New York, Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press, 1989. 1-23. Teixeira, Judith. Poemas: decadência, castelo de sombra, nva. conferência de mim. Lisboa: &etc, 1996. [27] Viana, António Manuel Couto. "Judith Teixeira." Coração Arquivista. David Mourão Ferreira (pref). Lisboa, S. Paulo: Editorial Verbo, [d.l. 1980]. 198-208. websites Feminist Chronicles 1973. The feminist majority foundation. 14th July, 2006. <http://www.feminist.org/research/chronicles/fc1973a.html>.
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