ORPHEU AND PRESENÇA IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PORTUGUESE MODERNISM

Abstract

In a context where the ideals suffered transformations, a ruption with the past occurs and the Modernist movement happens. It’s in this troubled period that the magazines “Orpheu” and “Presença” emerge. Linked to this magazine arise names like Sá Carneiro, Almada Negreiros and Fernando Pessoa, which immortalize this transition. The Modernism edifies the shift at the levels of art and literature, privileging the artist’s imagination. Modernism tends to define itself as a movement marked by the detachment to past artistic expressions. Due to the fact that this movement had its continuation during the Estado Novo, freedom of speech was compromised. Before these cultural oppressive conditions, people who belonged to previous generations began to arise, they would later give voice to the intellectual movements and become the founders of Modernismo Português. These reactionary intellectual movements originated from a non-governmental source, through the release of magazines innovations were introduced to the public. However, these ideologies did not reach as many people as they’d hope due to the low level of alphabetization in a rural and conservative country.