Approaches to Teaching the Works of Fernando Pessoa

Essays on teaching a major Portuguese writer

The writings of Fernando Pessoa, one of Portugal’s most renowned authors, stand alongside other significant works of modernist world literature and offer a view into the specific milieu of early-twentieth-century Lisbon. Writing under several identities known as heteronyms, Pessoa created works in many genres, including fragments that were assembled into his best-known text, The Book of Disquiet, only after his death.

The essays in this volume explore questions raised by Pessoa about the nature of the self, the stability of the text, and the conflict between tradition and innovation. Part 1, ＂Materials,＂ describes editions, translations, and other resources. The essays in part 2, ＂Approaches,＂ address Pessoa’s works and delve into the author’s historical and cultural contexts, heteronyms and multiplicity, archives and editing processes, and connections with other authors and fields of study.