Understanding the Portugese (sic) Poet Joaquim Pessoa, 1942–2007: A Study in Iberian Cultural Hybridity (review)

Robert Simon presents his monograph on the Portuguese author Joaquim Pessoa as a carefully prepared academic text. It is indeed a monograph and it has a clear objective of conveying his knowledge and research abilities to a graduation committee.

The book contains a foreword by Philip Rothwell, followed by traditional acknowledgments. It then proceeds with three chapters, a conclusion, and an appendix, and ends with a page for notes, a bibliography, and the works consulted.

The foreword informs us that the work we are about to read is innovative in the sense that Pessoa (not related to the famous Fernando Pessoa) is not always considered a postmodern poet. Rothwell states firmly that even if we were not to agree with Simon, we should not be deterred from reading his arguments.

The first chapter is the introduction to Simon's work: "Joaquim Pessoa, Postmodernism and Portuguese Postmodern Poetry." Simon presents an introduction to the life of the poet, as well as some key concepts on postmodernism. In order to do that, he uses another Portuguese poet, Vasco Graça Moura, as an example. He introduces the three main aspects of deconstruction that he will later apply to the readings. Simon gives a background on the history of Portugal, oftentimes in parallel with the history of Spain.

The second chapter is titled "Basic Critical Ideas on the Poetry of Joaquim Pessoa." Even though Simon starts by pointing out that "The poetry of Joaquim Pessoa, at first glance, seems more focused on socio-political issues, such as censorship, than on mystical enlightment" (17), he continues to show that his poetry is elaborated in three stages: deconstruction, metaphoric and mystical exploration, and "synthesis and the search for representation of the self" (18). Simon proceeds to apply deconstruction analysis to some of Pessoa's poems, such as "Livre e Vertical," and then examines Pessoa's transition into a more mystical poetry after the 1980s with "Os Olhos de Isa." Simon uses all the poems very effectively, and even a reader with no knowledge of Pessoa's poetry is able to follow his analyses. However, the poems are in Portuguese, and Simon provides the reader with translations only of the poems he explains.

Chapter 3 assesses "Mysticism in the Iberian Peninsula—The Influence of Ibn 'Arabi and the Sufi Way" (79). It traces the medieval origin of Spanish mysticism and considers the influence that the coexistence of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths had on the peninsula during the Reconquista. This chapter presents the concepts that are most integral to Simon's work. It actually clarifies some of his earlier comments, and some readers who are not familiar with these religious concepts may want to reread some of Simon's previous analysis.

The fourth chapter, titled "The Presence and Influence of the Sufi Way in the Poetry of Joaquim Pessoa" (91), develops a concept that was introduced in the second chapter. It focuses on the second stage of Pessoa's poetry after the 1980s and centers its examples on two poems: "Os Olhos de Isa" and "À mesa do amor." Some of it is a literal repetition of concepts presented before, such as the description of the seven stages to illumination according to a Sufi mystic, which is presented on page 80 and then again on 91. Simon concludes that Pessoa applies this process to his poetry and presents various examples to support that claim.

The conclusion reassesses the elements previously presented and offers possible future studies to be derived from this one. In the brief appendix, Simon considers a different possible path of analysis that offers cultural studies as an alternative lens through which to view Pessoa's corpus. It is interesting to notice that the "Notes" section, listed in the table of contents, is simply a blank page. The bibliography, works consulted, and index additionally provide a good resource for researchers interested...