Culture of Portugal - Literature

Literature

Portuguese literature has developed since the 12th century from the lyrical works of João Soares de Paiva, Paio Soares de Taveirós and King D.Dinis. They wrote mostly from Galician-Portuguese and oral traditions known as "Cantigas de amor e amigo" and "Cantigas de escárnio e maldizer", which were sung by Troubadours the first ones and the last ones by jograis.

Following chroniclers such as Fernão Lopes after the 15th century, fiction has its roots in chronicles and histories with theatre, following Gil Vicente, the father of Portuguese theatre, whose works was critical of the society of his time.

Classical lyrical texts include Os Lusíadas, by Luís de Camões that is an epic book about the history of Portugal and have elements of Greek mythology if from the 16th century.

Romanticism and Realism period authors from 19th century including Antero de Quental, Almeida Garrett, Camilo Pessanha, Camilo Castelo Branco, Eça de Queiroz, Alexandre Herculano, Ramalho Ortigão, Júlio Dinis and others.

Portuguese modernism is found in the works of Fernando Pessoa, José Régio, Miguel Torga, Mário de Sá Carneiro and others.

Following the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the Portuguese society, after several decades of repression, regained freedom of speech.

José Saramago received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.

Herberto Hélder is a young poet highly considered in Portugal from the recent wave of writers such us Valter Hugo Mãe, José Luís Peixoto, Gonçalo M. Tavares, Jorge Reis-Sá, Maria Antonieta Preto, José Ricardo Pedro and others.