Seen from the dawn of the twenty-first century, the essays of Eduardo Lourenço (b. 1923) are a philosophical arch that spans the twentieth century, analyzing it and revealing its imaginary borders, dreams, contradictions, ghosts and angels. The symbol the Portuguese essayist derives from the previous century, that is, the figure that best portrays the cultural oscillations of that century, is the labyrinth. The act of searching for knowledge impels a person to enter a labyrinth, insofar as he tends to grasp meanings from different sources and phenomena. The more he tries to find his way out of the labyrinth — to transform doubts into certainty — the more he finds himself immersed in contradiction, in a continuous re-memorization of his inner ghosts. Literary works are the best guides Lourenço has found to free himself from the maze of culture, although he is aware that his literary friends may also turn out to be his enemies and nightmares. His philosophical background allows him to deal with literature in an emotional, passionate way — his literary analyses are, most of the time, starting points for mythological interpretations of Portugal and Europe that merge poetry, sociology, anthropology, political science, and art history. 7 Acknowledgements 11 Editor’s Introduction 25 Chaos and Splendor 31 On the Permanence of the World of Spirit 47 Object Without Painting and Painting as Object 55 Walt Whitman and Pessoa 77 Nietzsche and Pessoa 91 Two Princes of Melancholy: Fernando Pessoa and Ludwig of Bavaria 101 On Europe as Culture 109 Portugal and its Destiny 173 The Dance of Time 181 About the Translators 183 Note on Textshome > Adamastor Book Series > 1. Eduardo Lourenço. Chaos and Splendor & Other Essays
// Adamastor Book Series
1. Eduardo Lourenço. Chaos and Splendor & Other Essays
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// TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Last Updated On: 1/20/07