As naus, by António Lobo Antunes: Camões epic after the end of the Empire

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/va.v26.n2.2025.230207

Keywords:

Contemporary Portuguese historical novel, As naus, epic Camões, decolonization, the end of the empire

Abstract

This article investigates the novel As naus (1988), by António Lobo Antunes (1942), highlighting the controversial literary composition of the greatest bard of our language, on the 500th anniversary of Luís de Camões and the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. It first addresses some critical-theoretical premises of the novel and the historical novel in Portugal today, in line with the aesthetic and ideological transformations resulting from the post-25th April revolutionary scenario. It then considers the novelistic recreation of the notable personality of the aforementioned Epic as a fictional character demoted by the adverse circumstances of decolonization (the end of the empire), transfiguring the greatest poet of Lusitanianity into a typical returnee to an unrecognizable Lisbon.

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Author Biographies

  • Rogério Max Canedo, Federal University of Goiás

    PhD in Literature from the University of Brasília (UnB). PhD PDSE/CAPES from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Post-doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires. Professor of Literature at the Faculty of Arts of the Federal University of Goiás (FL/UFG) and Researcher for the Postgraduate Program in Arts and Linguistics, at the same University. Member of the Literature and Peripheral Modernity research group, at the University of Brasília. Line of research: The historical novel from the theoretical perspective of György Lukács. Published the book, The Historical Romance of Colonization, in 2023; organized two other books on the subject between 2021 and 2024. Recently published the articles “The permanence of the aesthetic commitment of the historical novel: a panoramic view of the criticism on the literary form announced by György Lukács” and “The historical novel in Hispanic America: a brief approach to the critical and theoretical path of the genre”.

  • Edvaldo Bergamo, University of Brasília

    Professor at the University of Brasília (UnB). He completed two post-doctorates abroad: at the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and the University of Perugia (Italy). He holds a Bachelor's, Master's and PhD in Literature from the São Paulo State University (UNESP). In the Post-Graduate Program in Literature at UnB, he researches the following themes: historical novel; neorealist novel, novel and authoritarianism; novel and decolonization. He has published articles and book chapters, organized collections of essays and dossiers, organized events, and supervised undergraduate, undergraduate, master's and doctoral projects in the area of ​​comparative literary studies.

References

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Published

2025-12-24

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 2 (2025): Angola - collection, memory, and literature

Section

Outros Textos

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Copyright (c) 2025 Rogério Max Canedo, Edvaldo Bergamo

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How to Cite

CANEDO, Rogério Max; BERGAMO, Edvaldo. As naus, by António Lobo Antunes: Camões epic after the end of the Empire. Via Atlântica, São Paulo, v. 26, n. 2, p. 250–267, 2025. DOI: 10.11606/va.v26.n2.2025.230207. Disponível em: https://revistas.usp.br/viaatlantica/article/view/230207. Acesso em: 21 apr. 2026.