The Portuguese look on Macao: some contemporary poetic representations

Abstract

Macao has ever been a unique place in Portuguese culture with a deep reach of literary, historical, political and mythological influence. Portuguese contemporary poetry has persistently addressed this complex relationship between the East and the West over the centuries. This persistence allows us to view Macao not only as a geographical territory, but also as a concept with a considerable symbolic force. To some extent, this idea of Macao underpins a certain nostalgia of the Portuguese empire, in which the historic past interlaces the literary heritage (e.g. Luís de Camões, Camilo Pessanha or Wenceslau of Moraes were all closely linked to Macao). Some poets chosen for this study lived and worked for many years in the territory (e.g. José Alberto Oliveira, Gil de Carvalho ou Fernanda Dias). Others experienced an interaction with Macao that was more limited in time (Sophia de Mello Andresen in 1977; António Manuel Couto Viana, between 1986 and 1988; Eugénio de Andrade in 1999). The recurrent evocation of some landmarks (e.g. Camões Grotto or Lou Lim leoc Garden) by different authors resulted in the definition of a literary landscape unique to Macao. This study aims at mapping and interpreting this unique landscape.