Raul Leal, il gruppo di “Orpheu” e l'opzione dell'autoesilio

Abstract

Portuguese modernism was a heterogeneous movement consisting in distinct individualities that had in common the desire to bring about a profound renewal in Portuguese culture. This composite group of artists had in common a collective identity. As pointed out by Ettore Finazzi Agrò, the key word in the constitution of this common subject, is exile. This word is understood in its aesthetic sense, as a reference to an initiatory art, for a selected few; an existential choice, as well as a cultural one, of non-identification with respect to an environment and a socio-cultural context. In the context of the Portuguese modernists, a figure who appears to be the fullest and most resounding incarnation of the exiled state is a lesser-known author, Raul Leal, controversial and marginalized for several reasons. He was “exiled” with respect to social norms, sexual morality, current religion, style and linguistic conventions, and he also lived in concrete exile for political reasons, in Spain.