The Geração de Orpheu (Orpheus's Generation) or Grupo de Orfeu were a Portuguese literary movement, largely responsible for the introduction of

Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

to the arts and letters of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

through their tri-monthly publication, ' (1915). Following the lead of other European vanguard movements of the early twentieth century, and inspired by the

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

Vladimir Maiakovsky's urgings, the poets

Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa (; ; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, and publisher. He has been described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th c ...

Mário de Sá-Carneiro Mário de Sá-Carneiro (; May 19, 1890 – April 26, 1916) was a Portuguese poet and writer. He is one of the best known authors of the " Geração D'Orpheu", and is usually considered their greatest poet, after Fernando Pessoa. Life Má ...

and

Almada Negreiros José Sobral de Almada Negreiros, usually known as Almada Negreiros (7 April 1893 – 15 June 1970), was a Portuguese artist. He was born in the colony of Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe, the son of a Portuguese father, António Lobo de Al ...

, and the painters Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso and Guilherme de Santa-Rita formed a journal of art and literature based in Lisbon's Baixa district, with the principal aim of agitating, subverting and scandalizing the Portuguese bourgeoisie and social conventions.

''Orpheu''

The journal was named ''Orpheu'' after the Greek mythological character

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

, the musician who had to travel from the world of the living without looking back to save his wife

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several ...

from

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

. This metaphor inspired the Geração de Orpheu, who aspired to not look back, to relinquish the past and focus on the future for the "edification of Portugal in the twentieth century". After emerging onto the Portuguese literary scene in 1915, the journal folded due to financial insolvency, when the father of

refused to continue sponsoring it. Only two issues were published (Jan-Feb-Mar and Apr-May-Jun, 1915). The third issue of ''Orpheu'', already in printing proof, was lost for many years and until it was recovered and published in 1984.''Orpheu 3'', preparação do texto, introdução e cronologia de Arnaldo Saraiva. Lisboa: Edições Ática, 1984.

After ''Orpheu''

After the dissolution of ''Orpheu'', the group continued to publish in other literary journals. In 1917, ''Portugal Futurista'' came out with reproductions of

Santa-Rita Pintor Santa-Rita Pintor, born Guilherme Augusto Cau da Costa de Santa-Rita (18891918), was a Portuguese Futurist painter, known for his eccentricities, which included his signature mode of dressing: work clothes with striped rectangles. Life He firs ...

and Souza-Cardoso, along with the posthumous Futurist poems of Sá-Carneiro and some poetry by Fernando Pessoa and his heteronym

Álvaro de Campos Álvaro de Campos (; October 15, 1890 – November 30, 1935) was one of the poet Fernando Pessoa's various heteronyms, with a reputation for a powerful and angry style of writing. This ''alter ego'' is recounted to have been born in Tavira, Po ...

. Among the journals that published contributions from the Grupo were: ''Exílio'' (1916), ''Centauro'' (1916), ''Portugal Futurista'' (1917), ''Athena'' (1924–1925) and ''Presença'' (1927–1940).

Prominent members of the movement

* Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, painter *

, writer / visual artist / choreographer * Ângelo de Lima, writer *

António Ferro António Joaquim Tavares Ferro (17 August 1895, Lisbon - 11 November 1956, Lisbon) was a Portuguese writer, journalist and politician, associated with the Estado Novo. Biography In 1915, when he was barely 19, his friend, Mário de Sá Carnei ...

, writer *

Mário Saa Mario is the Italian, French, Croatian, Czech, Norwegian, Slovak, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovene, Polish, Spanish, Danish, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish, Bulgarian, Greek, German, Dutch, and English form of the Latin Roman name Marius. The video ...

, writer *

, painter

References

Bibliography

* AA.VV. (1989). ''ORPHEU'', edição facsimilada. Lisboa: Contexto Editora. * SARAIVA, António José and Óscar Lopes (1993). ''História da Literatura Portuguesa''. Porto: Porto Editora, 17th ed. * MARTINS, Fernando Cabral (coord.) (2008). ''Dicionário de Fernando Pessoa e do Modernismo Português''. Alfragide: Editorial Caminho.

External links

Portuguese National Library

''Orpheu'' at the Portuguese National Library

''Orpheu'' Nº1 at Gutenberg Project

''Orpheu'' Nº2 at Gutenberg Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geracao De Orpheu 20th century in Portugal Modernism Literary circles