Francisco João da Costa (28 December 1859 – 1900), also known by his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Gip (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

), was a Portuguese journalist and a major figure in

Goan Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...

journalism of the nineteenth century.

Early life

Costa was born into a powerful dynasty, with both

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

roots, which had supported Portugal's Regeneration and also supported the extension of constitutional and democratic rights to

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

. Costa studied law, and developed a profile as a journalist and short-story writer alongside his legal career. Costa's uncle Bernardo Francisco da Costa owned the weekly journal ''O Ultramar'', associated with the Partido Ultramarino and Goa's Brahmin caste.

Career

Costa began writing for ''O Ultramar'' in 1882, most famously contributing the novel ''Jacob e Dulce'' ('Jacob and Dulce') in serial form between 10 November 1894 and 1 June 1895, prior to publishing the work as a book in 1896. It is set in a thinly disguised version of Costa's home town,

Margão Margao (, ) is the commercial capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the river Sal River (India), Sal. It is the district headquarters of South Goa district, South Goa, and administr ...

, and focuses its satire on the

bourgeoisie of the

Velhas Conquistas The ''Velhas Conquistas'' or "Old Conquests" are a grouping of the areas in Goa which were incorporated into Portuguese India in the early half of the sixteenth century AD. Goa, Daman and Diu comprised the last remaining Portuguese possessions in ...

Portuguese Goa The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

. 'Rather than a novel, ''Jacob e Dulce'' is perhaps best read as a series of sketches pushed forward narratively by the machinations surrounding an arranged marriage' between its eponymous protagonists. Influenced by the writing of the Portuguese satiric realist Eça de Queiroz, ''Jacob e Dulce'' is noted for moving

writing beyond

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

towards

social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

, developing social sature, and capturing a colloquial and local tone in the Portuguese dialogue. It has run to several editions. It appears that the opprobrium which Costa's satires provoked led him to cease fiction-writing after ''Dulce e Dulce''.Paul Melo e Castro (trans.), ''Lengthening Shadows'', 2 vols (Saligão: Goa, 1556, 2016), I p. 21.

Translations

*Francisco João da Costa, ''Jacob & Dulce (sketches from Indo-Portuguese life)'', trans. by Álvaro Noronha da Costa (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2004) *GIP, 'Jacob and Carapinho', in ''Lengthening Shadows'', trans. by Paul Melo e Castro, 2 vols (Saligão: Goa, 1556, 2016), I pp. 83–86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Francisco Joao GIP da 1859 births 1900 deaths Novelists from Goa Portuguese-language writers Goan Catholics Journalists from Goa People from Portuguese India