“If you insist
in knowing what saudade is you will have to know first and foremost; feel what
loving is; what kindness is; have a pure love forever; live. After this you
will understand what saudade is about. After losing that love saudade is
loneliness, melancholy. It is distance. It is remembering. It is suffering”.
Saudade is a concept as enrooted in the Lusophone (and
Galician) culture as hard to explain. The Dicionário
Houaiss da lingua portuguesa defines it as “a somewhat melancholic feeling
of incompleteness. It is related to thinking back on situations of privation
due to the absence of someone or something, to move away from a place or thing,
or to the absence of a set of particular and desirable experiences and
pleasures once lived”. Miguel Falabella is more concise and straight to the
point. For him it is “the nostalgia derived from a lack of knowing”.
The verses at the very beginning of this text belong
to Mario Palmeiro. Like many others, this Brazilian composer tried to shape,
through words, this feeling that goes beyond any simple comprehension. A
sensation that grazes for moments the edge of metaphysics. Indeed, saudade encompasses such a bunch of
emotions and circumstances that any attempt of literal adaptation will not
accurately match at all, and therefore it would not be absurd
to say that the best one may be the term itself.
Understanding
saudade is to understand the essence
of the Portuguese-speaking cultures and the Galician one. For a language is a
vehicle of communication within societies and evolves alongside, mutually
complementing. This would justify why other tongues have failed when
incorporating and translating it. Do not get it wrong. Each language has its
own word to let us express a similar sentiment (hiraeth in Welsh, natsukashii
in Japanese, or kahio in Finnish,
among others), but are all the factors attached what make it unique.
All
the cultures under the Lusophone umbrella (plus the Galician one) share a
series of particulars that play key roles in the development of saudade. In this context one should
underline, among those many common features, how historically marked by
emigration they are –both national and internationally-, most of the times due
to socio-economical reasons. Likewise, their differences are as noticeable as
varied the backgrounds of the legacies that helped rise up their own
identities.
Having
mentioned this, it makes sense to distinguish between the elements of a general
saudade and those of specific
regional ones. For that purpose, this article is going to surf through that
assortment of perceptions spotting in three expats, living in the Spanish city
of León, from three countries from three continents: Mrs Sofia Silva
(Portugal), Mr Gutenberg Alves (Brazil), and Mrs Tatiana Almeida (Cape Verde).
Portugal, feeling that something is missing
“Having the sensation that you lose a piece of your
soul”
 |
| Mrs. Sofía Silva |
“Saudade is such a big compilation of
feelings that makes it hard to translate, therefore it is not only missing. It
is a way of externalizing feelings. That is why we say that a Portuguese person
is always more or less; neither very sad nor very happy”, reasons Mrs Sofia
Silva, representative of the Camões Institute in León (Spain) and Teacher of
Portuguese at the Language Centre of the University of León.
The
history and arts of the lusa nation
are examples of this extensive cultural feature. Portugal was once leader and
reference of exploratory trips as well as an empire ruling over territories
spread throughout the world. Vasco da Gama or Fernão de Magalhães are just two
names in a long list. Its location in a tip of the Old Continent, having the
Atlantic Ocean as one of its major borders, may have contributed for this
people to grow up looking beyond the horizon to find their state of mind and
“would explain why such a small country (in size) took courage to go ahead with
its discovery expeditions, and so calm down, somehow, its curiosity and that
search for what is missing”, outlines Mrs. Silva.
Saudade is a recurrent
topic in the diverse artistic manifestations. From literature with currents
such as ‘Sebastianismo’ that points out that waiting time until the
contemporary situation improves, or ‘Saudosismo’, cinema, or music. When
thinking of Portuguese music there is a style that almost automatically comes
out: fado. According to Mrs Silva, “fado shows and transmits that feeling of
lacking, and its tone paves the way for its strong association with saudade”. Additionally, she guides us,
on the one hand, to reckon that fado
is not only sadness, but also happiness by remembering good past times, like
for instance the Fado de Coimbra and
its reminder of University years; and on the other hand, that the majority of
the rest of the musical genres concentrates this particular melancholy within
their lyrics too.
Bearing
this in mind, the national anthem –APortuguesa- deserves a special mention as it portrays the hope to bring
Portugal back to what it was.
Heróis do mar, nobre povo, (
Nação valente, imortal, (
Levantai hoje de novo (
O esplendor de Portugal! (
Entre as brumas da memória (
Ó Pátria, sente-se a voz (
Dos teus egrégios avós, (
Que há-de guiar-te à vitória! (
Às armas, às armas! (
Sobre a terra, sobre o mar, (
Às armas, às armas! (
Pela Pátria lutar! (
Contra os canhões marchar, marchar! (
With
the splendid epoch gone, the country has had to deal with a decreasing
socio-economic situation for decades and decades, far-right dictatorship
included (1933 - 1974). This hardness, which many might have found as a motive
to complain and get blocked, has worked as a lesson for o povo luso. “We have learnt to keep walking on and say to
ourselves that in order to accomplish the final aim we must go on. Let’s say
that we employ the fundamentals of saudade
as our engine”, underlines the Porto-born teacher.
These
upheavals provoke an increasing emigration towards Lisbon and Porto, if it is
inland, but especially to other countries. This phenomenon embodies saudade in a double way as Mrs Silva
details. “The person who leaves misses his/her homeland as well as the fact of
the departure itself, and hopes to return. The person who stays misses the one
left, and hopes he/she comes back”.
Hence,
it can be said that saudade is so
dynamic and lively that always remains contemporary. In this process,
technology has its space as well. The development of new devices eases the
contact with those in the distance, and approaches one, more than ever, to what
it is used to without having to be there personally. For Mrs Silva, however,
this “although softening, does not remedy the feeling of saudade”.
At
this height, then, it does not surprise when Mrs Silva affirms that “for a
Portuguese the soul is something very symbolic, more than the heart”.
Brazil, regional and political saudade
“Saudade is what remains of what does not remain”
 |
| Mr. Gutenberg Alves |
Brazil,
like almost every nation, has its own economic geographical differences. The
state of São Paulo is the richest and most prosperous; it is a potential
destination for those whose hometowns do not share this status. For decades and
decades, the latter was the situation of the North-East whereas the South, of a
more European tradition, has enjoyed a wealthier condition.
For
Mr Gutenberg Alves, a Brazilian PhD-in-Law student at the University of León
(Spain) and Professor back in Brazil, understanding and knowing these
circumstances are “needed” in order to comprehend how saudade is felt and shifts all around the territory. “Saudade from the North-East has a deeper
character of hope. People from this area used to (and still does) to emigrate
looking for work and earning money guided by their faith in returning home
sooner or later. It is close to that of those Portuguese who went to build up
Brazil counting on coming back to their homeland after all. On the other hand,
the southern one is more nostalgic, perhaps derived from those Europeans who
arrived to never go back, and there is not that certainty of a double-way
journey”.
Mr
Alves, commonly known as ‘Guto’ among his friends, was born in Southern Brazil,
but preserves the spirit of his Campos Sales-ancestry. His parents emigrated from
this north-eastern location and it seemed to be the prelude of Guto’s life, who
has dwelt all over the country, and so knows what leaving relationship bonds
behind means.
Who
also had to leave their friends, family, and even country aside, because of way
different reasons, were Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque. These three
emblems of the Brazilian music had to go abroad into exile for their opposition
to the dictatorship (1964 - 1985). “They kept composing and performing from the
distance, and it is that very new element of being thousands of miles away
something that did not happen to be unnoticed in their lyrics. Veloso, Gil and
Buarque took in this melancholy of missing their land, their circle of close
people, and of hope to be back one day in a brighter Brazil”, states Mr Alves
pointing out that “this same is found, traditionally, in the music of the
North-East”.
In
this relation between saudade and música brasileira there is a capital
song that cannot be omitted: Chega deSaudade (enough saudade). It is considered to be the first recorded bossa nova track. Its creation combined two
of the best-known local musicians. The music was composed by Antonio Carlos
Jobim and the lyrics were written by Vinicius de Moraes. Although first
released in 1958 by Elizete Cardoso, it would not be until 1959 when it became
a hit and solidified bossa nova as a
permanent genre in the Latin music lexicon after João Gilberto brought it out
as a single.
As
it can be deduced from the lines above, saudade
can play politically too and, believe it or not, the so-called Maracanazo is involved. According to Mr
Alves, “the loss of the World Cup in 1950 was extrapolated to society. The
failure of the national team was used to expand the idea that the organization
of the tournament was a fiasco. From then on, certain elites fed the population
with the conception that whatever project Brazil was willing to undertake would
fail”.
This
engendered “feeling of inferiority” towards others, towards the foreign, known
as viralata, began being overcome
some years ago, mainly –but not only- under the rule of Lula da Silva (2003 - 2011).
“He lifted people up from that social pessimism with his policies and attitude.
He urged us to stand up and raise hope against fear, to recover that hope that
let us be again that powerful Brazil it used to be in the past and we missed”,
analyses ‘Guto’.
Such
was the use of saudade by Lula da
Silva that some of his political campaigns reverted it against his detractors
and to defend his measures. These ones applied that of ‘watch out what you wish
because it can be given’ understood as being connected with the past may not
agree with the current reality.
Cape Verde, circumstances of an announced sodade
“In one word: missing”
 |
| Mrs. Tatiana Almeida |
With
the abolition of the slave trade in 1876, and therefore its workforce in
minimums, the country fell progressively into a forgotten colonial placement,
without enough resources to supply its inhabitants and suffering from drought
and famine. Resisting for centuries the colonial yoke, Cape Verde as well as
other Portuguese territories in Africa got its independence in 1975.
This
past is reflected in its current cultural diversity and its tendencies, with
the South-Eastern islands more prone to African influence whereas the
North-Western ones are closer to a European/Portuguese weight. Such is the
blend of genes that “when a baby is about to born, it becomes a moment of
expectancy as to know what his/her skin and complexion are like”, laughs Mrs
Tatiana Almeida, an Art History student at the University of León (Spain). As
relevant as this turns out the fact of being an archipelago-country in order to
wonder what sustains the Cape Verdean identity and what its basis are. Mrs
Almeida is sure about that and does not take too long to identify elements that
work out as a backbone. “Music, Crioulo (language widely spoken throughout the
nation that results from combining antiquated Portuguese with West African
tongues), Cachupa (a nationwide
dish), or Sodade (Cape Verdean word
for saudade) unite us all. This is
what every Cape Verdean preserves either in or out of the country”.
As
noticed in her words, saudade or sodade does have an effect beyond its
literal meaning. There are around a million people who consider themselves Cape
Verdean, of whom only around 300,000 actually live in the islands. “This fact
contributes to raise that feeling. Elder people always take their kids to know
their land, and falling in love with the country is unavoidable. Despite having
another nationality, they find their traits and roots there. Once they leave,
they come back again, thus embodying a new generation weir of sodade”, thinks over Mrs Almeida.
‘Taty’,
–how she is friendly known- together with her family, is one of those émigrés.
Grown up in Cape Verde, she has lived for more than a lustrum in Spain, and
realizes how that melancholic feeling is transmitted generation by generation
when dwelling abroad. “Missing one’s land makes it [sodade] stronger and immortal. Kids, even unconscious of Cape
Verde, hear it, know what it means and how to use it”.
Asked
about the moments sodade is most
felt, she particularly emphasizes than when listening to music due to the
contents and lyrics “speaking about how far the country is and how much the
family is missed”.