Memórias literárias de Camões em Macau

Abstract

In the context of such an important event as the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Luís de Camões, this paper aims to analyse the presence of Camões and Camões’ work in literature written in Portuguese in Macau. It is not our aim to delve into the theme of Camões’ presence in Macau. The presence of the poet and his places have gained the status of literary presence and literary places, freed from the contingencies of time and facts. It is possible to find in the available literary corpus a comprehensive set of references to Camões and his work, produced by occasional visitors or residents in Macau for a longer or shorter period. These references date mainly back to the 19th century and the dawn of the literary period of Romanticism, giving rise to a nostalgic pilgrimage to the Grotto of Camões and the production of descriptions and literary texts. During the 20th century, references to Camões continued and intertextuality took on various forms, situated somewhere between imitation and formal and thematic invention. The identification with the poet's biography, the praise of the author's work, the impossibility of ignoring Camões' presence in Macau and the celebration of memory are aspects that make Camões the intertext that runs through literature written in Portuguese in the East.