The philosophies embodied in Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms and identity

Pessoa

"The Philosophies embodied in the Heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa. Identity Crisis or a great Philosopher?"

Heteronym

The Philosophies embodied in the Heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa. Identity Crisis or a great Philosopher?

The Philosophies embodied in the Heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa. Identity Crisis or a great Philosopher?

Introduction of Fernando Pessoa; his Life, Work and Background

Fernando Pessoa (1888 -- 1935) was a poet who wrote using various "heteronyms" or literary alter egos. However, as will be discussed, these were not alter egos in the conventional sense but were in fact separate entities that the writer claimed existed and informed his existential and artistic experience. This becomes clear from the fact that "Pessoa devoted his life to conferring substance to each alter ego, giving each a personal biography, psychology, politics, aesthetics, religion, and physique." (Gibbs 226)

Central to his writing is the issue and problematic status of individual identity -- and the deconstruction of the belief in a single, static sense of "self." His works continually raise questions such as, what is identity and does personal identity really exist? As the author states; "I am, in large measure, the selfsame prose I write. I unroll myself in periods and paragraphs, I make myself punctuation marks; in my unbridled allocation of images I'm like a child using newspaper to dress up as a king…. I've made myself into the character of a book, a life one reads." (Poplawski 293)

Pessoa has been recognized not only as a major writer in both the modernist and postmodernist traditions but also as one "… of the most interesting and complex figures of Western literature in the twentieth century." (Poplawski 293) He was born in Lisbon in 1888 and lived in this city for most of his life, however an important period of his youth was spent in South Africa. After his mother remarried further to the death of her husband, the family moved to Durban, South Africa, as the father had been appointed as the Portuguese consul to the city. (Poplawski 293) Young Pessoa stayed in the country for ten years and his elementary and secondary schooling took place in English schools in South Africa. This period was to have a profound effect on him. This education also made him well read in English Literature and "…the roots of his poetic theory and practice reach equally into Portuguese Literature and the Anglo-American literary tradition." (Poplawski 293)

The first books that he published were in fact collections of English poems, however they only received "courteous but unenthusiastic reviews from the Times and Glasgow Herald." (Lachman para. 2) Apart from various articles very little else of his was actually published during his lifetime, however he did publish Mensagem (Message), which is an extended esoteric poem with nationalist overtones. This book received a consolation prize in a national competition. (Lachman para. 2)

As regards his working life, he mainly supported himself as a freelance translator of French and English for various companies. His private life was extremely solitary and almost reclusive. He had no known lasting romantic affairs and was never married. His lonely life ended in 1935 when he died from hepatitis as a result of excessive drinking.

It is therefore perhaps ironic that until fairly recently the works of this creative and contemporary writer were little known. However, his writings and especially the Book of Disquiet, have been recognized and acclaimed by many critics, including Harold Bloom. This book is a fragmentary collection of mostly unfinished texts found in a trunk after his death, which reflect the existential anxiety related to the search for self and identity in the modern world. This work is seen by many critics to be a contemporary reflection on the condition of modern humanity and society.

The fragmentary nature of these writings - jotted on scraps of paper, the backs of envelopes, the reverse side of other manuscripts and other odd places - makes Pessoa a prime postmodern figure, and the trunk, whose contents are still being catalogued (it contained some 25,000 items) has taken on the same mythical character as the valise Walter Benjamin carried on his fateful escape from Vichy France. (Lachman para. 1)

His work is seen to be aligned with the postmodern and deconstructive view of the fractured and disjointed modern human ethos. This view is also linked to the perception of his personal life and his fragmentary psyche -- which has in turn been linked to discussion about psychosis as opposed to genius as Gray (2001) notes: "…he passed his days writing, drinking and chain-smoking, scraping a meagre living from translations and devising English crosswords, a reclusive figure with few friends and almost no love life. To him, obscurity became a kind of vocation." (Gray 52)

While he did not receive any great recognition of acclaim in his life, after his death he became recognized as an accomplished poet and essayist in Portugal. The most significant part of his oeuvre consists of more than 2000 pieces of text which were found after his death. (Gray 52) the author did not provide indications of how these fragments should be assembled but did provide the book's title -- the Book of Disquiet. He also wrote poetry, plays, treatises on astrology and a variety of autobiographical reflections. (Lachman para. 1) However what make this writer so unique is his heteronyms, or the writings of others, which became an essential part of his oeuvre.

2. The Concept of Heteronymia.

The concept of Heteronymia is usually defined as follows: "Term coined by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa to describe an alter ego through which poets/authors can create work." (Glossary of Poetic Terms) However, this definition does not do justice to the complexity and importance of the term. Heteronymia should not be understood simplistically, especially in terms of the way that is creatively employed by Pessoa. This is made clear in a study by Sadler (1998) who states that, "Over the years, numerous theories have been put forth about the motives for Pessoa's creation of the heteronyms." These theories range from psychological assessment of the author to the influence of other poets and writers. With regard to the latter view, some critics have attributed authors such as Caeiro, Reis, and Campos to the influence of Pessoa's friend Mario de Sa-Carneiro, whose poems and stories frequently induced the idea of a split within the self. Harold Bloom has viewed Caeiro and Campos in terms of Pessoa's close reading of Whitman, which resulted in a desire to distinguish what the American poet termed the "me myself" and "the real me," or the spiritual and fleshly aspects of humanity. (Sadlier 72)

However, another theory that will be explored in the section below refers to the view that the heteronyms are a sign and are symptomatic of the modern questioning and deconstruction of the idea of the unified self or static ego. This is an aspect that has received a great deal of attention for both psychology and philosophy. A further viewpoint is that the heteronyms are a reflection of the author's schizophrenic personality. (Sadlier 72) for example, critics have suggested that "… the heteronyms as symptoms of a historical period when the notion of the unified self was being called into question by philosophy and psychoanalysis." However, others have suggested other causative and motivating factors. Mario de Saraiva for example has "…. gone further along these lines, suggesting that the heteronyms were the result of Pessoa's own schizophrenic personality." (Sadlier 72)

3. Heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa

In order to understand the concept of the heteronyms one has to view this concept in the context of the work of Pessoa, and particularly in relation to the Book of Disquiet. Something of the author's motivation to develop these various characters can be gleaned from the following quotation: "For temperamental reasons that I do not propose to analyze, nor is it important that I analyze, I constructed within me various characters distinct among themselves and from me -- characters to whom I attributed various poems that, in terms of feelings and ideas, are not like those that I would write." (Sadlier 74)

In essence, as Poplawski (2003 ) so succinctly explains, Pessoa's heteronyms are, literally, "…other names which Pessoa himself (or "orthonymous") gave to "other poets" he discovered in himself and under whose different personalities he wrote." (Poplawski 293) There are dozens of these other characters that have been found among the texts left by Pessoa, however, there are some which are more prominent and important than others. These characters are: Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Alvaro de Campos, as well as Bernardo Soares, but Soares is described as a semi-heteronym by the author as he is more of an alter-ego of the author himself and is the author of the Book of Disquietude. Alberto Caeiro is described as an "ingenious, unlettered man who lived in the country and had no profession." (Gibbs 226) the character of Richard Reis is a doctor and classicist who "…wrote odes in the style of Horace." (Gibbs 226) Alvardo de Campos is a naval engineer by profession and while his earlier writings are positive, his work develops characteristics of existential angst. Furthermore, what is intriguing is that all of these fictive authors created by Pessoa interact with one another and even translate each other's works. (Gibbs 226)

One critic notes that "Fernando Pessoa invented at least 72 fictive identities. "His jostling aliases...expressed his belief that the individual subject -- the core of European thought -- is an illusion." (Gray 52) This view goes to the heart of the matter, as will be discussed in the following sections of this paper; namely that the creation of these fictive identities emphasizes and highlights the modern crisis of identity and the existential and postmodern view that the self as a coherent and continuous entity is an illusion. The following extract emphasizes this central point and also allows for reflection on the deconstruction of identity in terms of the uncertainty of authorship.

"Fernando Pessoa, strictly speaking, doesn't exist." These words were written by Alvaro de Campos, naval engineer, opium-eater, absinthe-drinker, dandy and futurist -- and one of at least 72 "heteronyms," fictive identities through the medium of which Pessoa produced some of the most remarkable poetry and prose of the 20th century. (Gray 52) in other words, the effect of the creation of the fictive characters in the work of Pessoa points to a cardinal issue -- that the author himself as an existent 'self' is questioned and may not in fact exist - except through the creation of his fictive characters. This relates to the postmodern deconstruction of the author or authorial authority in literature. It also leads to the questioning of the modes of normative reality that construct the social and individual world. This is an aspect that will be discussed in more detail in the following section.

The extent to which these characters assume their own life can be seen in one of the central characters that Pessoa developed. Alberto Caeiro is the pagan author of a work entitled the Keeper of Sheep. This work is a "… poetic critique of language and metaphysics as subtle and forceful as anything to be found in Wittgenstein…" (Gray 52) This character and his writings embody the uncertainty and discontinuity of the postmodern condition (Gray 52) and stress the view that there is no individual with a stable and fixed or cohesive self or identity.

As has been briefly referred to, there are a number of differing theories as to the underlying reasons for the creation of these characters. As one critic notes: "Pessoa's grip on his own self was so tenuous that at one point he took to writing to his old teachers and schoolmates in Durban, posing as the psychiatrist Faustino Antunes, asking for their opinion on the mental state of his patient, Fernando Pessoa who, depending on the letter, had either committed suicide or was under restraint at an asylum. Having no idea who he was, Pessoa hoped to gain some insight from those who knew him." (Lachman, para. 4)

This would suggest that he was psychotic and consequently a psychological interpretation is applicable to the understanding of his word. However, as will be discussed in the following section, the view is taken in this paper that far from being a 'psychological aberration' the construction of the characters and their works in Pessoa's oeuvre is a subtle and intense critique of the modern mind and the state of modern humanity. It will be suggested that this writer was fully aware of the causes and direction of his creations. It is perhaps pertinent at this stage to review a brief extract from his writing in order to throw more light on the subject. The following quotation by Pessoa, part of which has already been cited, serves to illustrate the point that he was highly aware and conscious of the creative artistic process in shaping his characters and their work. This passage is quoted at length as it serves as a platform for further insight into the significance of his artistic process in the creation of the heteronyms:

"I've made myself into the character of a book, a life one reads. Whatever I feel is felt (against my will) so that I can write that I felt it. Whatever I think is promptly put into words, mixed with images that undo it, cast into rhythms that are something else altogether. From so much self-revising, I've destroyed myself. From so much self-thinking, I'm now my thoughts and not I. I plumbed myself and dropped the plumb; I spend my life wondering if I'm deep or not, with no remaining plumb except my gaze that shows me -- blackly vivid in the mirror at the bottom of the well -- my own face that observes me observing it."

(Pessoa, pp. 169-170)

The first sentence of the above quotation - "I've made myself into the character of a book, a life one reads" - shows his concern for the process of depersonalization and the existential fracturing of the individual sense of identity or self. The second sentence of the above also reinforces this sense of emptiness or meaninglessness at the core of being. The author states that what he feels is felt against his will. In other words this suggests that he had no direction or control over his life or even over the feelings and thoughts that he experiences. This perception leads to the creation of the heteronyms but at the same time it also reflects the existential angst and despair at achieving any sense of meaning in life. Life is nothing but a series of experiences that are seemingly arbitrary and out of our control. This relates to the postmodern concern with the lack of any real centrality or sense of reality to life -- all is a construction to be deconstructed. The only life that the author has is the artistic development of word and images, as he so clearly expresses in the above quotation, but over which he has no control. This is made clear by the following lines:

"I plumbed myself and dropped the plumb; I spend my life wondering if I'm deep or not, with no remaining plumb except my gaze that shows me -- blackly vivid in the mirror at the bottom of the well -- my own face that observes me observing it."

(Pessoa, pp. 169-170)

Taking the above into account, one should not make the mistake of thinking that the heteronyms were a simple and convenient artistic device. As one critic notes, "Pessoa seems never to have tired of games of impersonation such as the ones that filled the pages of his childhood newspapers. But the heteronyms were not simply a game; they were a highly intellectualized "construction" that occupied his entire adult life." (Sadlier 75)

The construction of other characters was therefore much more than an expressive artistic device for Pessoa. They were the outcome and the reality of a deeply felt philosophical appraisal of existence. However, from a literary point-of-view the creation of the heteronyms did "...enable him to exhibit mastery over a range of styles and traditions and to experiment with different aesthetic positions." (Sadlier 75) in this respect it is perhaps useful at this point to explore the way that Pessoa created his heteronyms. When he attempted to write pagan or nature poems he found that he was unsuccessful when he wrote in his own voice and from his conscious perceptions. This changed with the 'invention' of the character of Alberto Caeiro. This character 'arrived' as it were to write these types of poems. Pessoa describes this process as follows:

"On the day when I finally desisted - it was the 8th of March, 1914 - I went over to a high desk and, taking a sheet of paper, began to write, standing, as I always write when I can. And I wrote thirty-odd poems straight off, in a kind of ecstasy whose nature I cannot define. It was the triumphal day of my life, and I shall never have another like it. I started with a title - 'The Keeper of Sheep'. And what followed was the apparition of somebody in me, to whom I at once gave the name Alberto Caeiro. Forgive me the absurdity of the phrase: my master had appeared in me. This was the immediate sensation I had."

(Pessoa, 2001, 256)

What becomes clear from the above is that Pessoa did not consider his heteronyms to be consciously constructed or contrived to suit a particular artistic role or function in any way. On the contrary the heteronyms "emerge" or appear in a kind of visionary state of ecstasy in which the author is transformed into another identity or self. It is important to realize and not underestimate the extent to which the heteronyms are actually transformations of consciousness for the writer and not just a convenient device to write differently. This process not only places into question the issue of individual identity but it also relates directly to a view of reality that has many characteristics of the postmodern range of philosophy. The philosophical aspects of the heteronyms will be discussed in the following section.

4. The Philosophies Embodied in the Heteronyms of Fernando Pessoa.

Before embarking on an analysis of the various intertwined philosophies that we can find embodied in the works of Pessoa, one should first briefly refer to what is commonly meant by the 'postmodern condition' or postmodern philosophy. This term has become contentious and there are many differing views and schools of thought on the subject of what exactly constitutes postmodernism. However, to generalize, we could characterize the postmodern 'philosophy' or view of reality as one that in the first instance questions, interrogates and deconstructs the accepted norms, values and perceptions of modern society. Furthermore, postmodernism is characterized by a view of reality that emphasizes discontinuity and paradox in assessing reality, especially social reality. This also applies to the sense of individual reality, where the stress is on the issues of ambiguity and uncertainty that undermine any assertion of the 'truth" as something permanent and stable.

It should also be noted that the difficulty of defining postmodernism is expressed in one study as follows: "One major difficulty then in engaging the theoretical and practical horizons sketched by the term postmodern is that ambiguity and undecidability reside even in the realm of their fundamental definition" (Cullenberg, Amariglio, and Ruccio 4). In other words, the very process of definition is one that can be deconstructed and interrogated from a postmodern perspective.

Examples of postmodern discourse are the examination of the accepted sociological norms and ideas about society -- such as the way in which bureaucratic rationality excludes or distances moral responsibility in society. This includes by implication a questioning of the presuppositions and the way of thinking that constructs these norms and values.

We can see Pessoa's link to the philosophy of postmodernism in the following extract from his writings: "Paradox is the typical formula of Nature. That's why all truth has a paradoxical form." (Cravens) the paradoxical, ambiguous and uncertain nature of the human identity, as well as other aspects of reality, which has its roots in the existentialism of Sartre and which has become an intrinsic part of the postmodern discourse, has a direct relevance to the works of Pessoa.

As has been discussed, the issue of a fixed and stable identity or sense of self is disrupted in the works of Pessoa and by his creation of his heteronyms. The paradox of the creation of many selves or separate personages that reside within the concept of a single individual identity is the foundation of the philosophical understanding of the heteronyms. This relates to the postmodern denial of final truths or essences and the view that in reality there are only relative 'truths'. As Gibbs (1999) states, "Pessoa and his "heteronyms" and their constant striving toward fragmentation of the self, in part to espouse skepticism toward the belief in "essences, " throws into chaos any firm belief that authorial intentions arise from unified minds." (Gibbs 226) This goes to the heart of the philosophical significance of the creation of heteronyms. What Pessoa achieves, especially in his creation of the heteronyms is a denial of the unity of the self. This also applies to the norm of authorial intention in that the author is no longer in control of his creation and in Pessoa's case the creation actually critiques and questions the author's very existence. It is this reversal and paradox that we find in Pessoa's world that leads to a number of existential and postmodern philosophical stances.

The disruption of the belief in a stable, unified and enduring self leads to a great deal of angst and self -- questioning. In this regard mention should be made of existential philosophy that can be brought to bear on the works of Pessoa. This philosophy, which was an essential part of the modernist movement, questions the meaning and the reality of existence. It asks questions such as, "what does it mean to exist?," "what is the purpose of existing and life and is there any purpose at all?," and "…do we exist?" This school of thought forms an integral and essential mode of thought in modernism and literature. In philosophical terms existentialism can be seen as the denial of all overarching systematic attempts to describe human individuality. In other words, idealistic and generalized views of reality were placed into question by the existentialists in terms of the feelings and experiences of the individual. This is very pertinent to the works of Pessoa and his denial of the ideal of the unity and even the existence of separate identity.

Very briefly, existentialism is a philosophy that can perhaps be best described in relation to the concept of teleology. The dictionary definition of teleology refers to the "…doctrine that there is design, purpose, or finality in the world." ( Teleology) This refers to the view that actions and intentions are aimed at goals and that life has a sense of directed purpose. In other words, this view of reality considers meaning and purpose towards a defined and defining reality as the fundamental philosophical component of life and reality. This would tend to conform to the orthodox and traditional views about life and reality, which many modern philosophers have tended to reject.

For many reasons, including the repercussions of the First World War and the demise of institutional structures of meaning since the nineteenth century, the teleological view of reality and existence was questioned and even put into doubt by many modern philosophers and philosophical schools of thought. A prime example of this contrary attitude or view can be found in the existentialist school of thought and in the writings of Jean Paul Sartre. The view that life does not necessarily have a clear and definite purpose is also a central area of discourse in postmodernism and post-structuralism, particularly in the works of writers like Derrida and, to some extent, in the deconstructive writings of Martin Heidegger.

In terms of Western philosophy, existentialism contradicts Platonic ideals and the search for the highest and transcendent good as the aim and purpose of life. This idealism has been a perennial theme of Western metaphysics until the philosopher Nietzsche began to question these assumptions. In other words, philosophy in the more traditional sense is aimed at certain goals and end points. Existentialism begins with the assumption that existence is strange and mysterious without any obvious pattern or order. As has been discussed above, this view seems to conform to the view of reality that we find in the creation of the heteronyms. To the existentialist, the individual is in a state of crisis in the search for meaning and reality. Sartre writes for example of an existential 'nausea' when we first become aware that there is in fact no firm grounding to life or existence. When we confront reality at a deeper level we find that there is a 'nothingness' at the heart of perceived existence and not, as Aristotle and Socrates suggest, some higher good.

The relevance of the above brief discussion can be clearly seen in many of Pessoa's texts. To reiterate the important words that that the semi-heteronym, Bernardo Soares, writes in the Book of Disquietude: "I am, in large measure, the selfsame prose I write. I unroll myself in periods and paragraphs, I make myself punctuation marks; in my unbridled allocation of images I'm like a child using newspaper to dress up as a king…. I've made myself into the character of a book, a life one reads."

In this passage the distinction between the images and the books and the author has collapsed. Reading these texts one is continually confronted by the question "who is writing?" And even, "is this writing or transcription?" As Gibbs states, "Even if we disregard Pessoa's conscious attempt to dissolve himself into "nothing except writing," our understanding of the plurality of meanings in Pessoa's work crystallizes our surrendering to Pessoa's complex authorial intentions." (Gibbs 226 / 227)

These postmodern and existentialist "traces" or conceptualizations can also be clearly seen in other parts of works like the Book of Disquiet. Take the following passage for example:

Walking on these streets, until the night falls, my life feels to me like the life they have. By day they're full of meaningless activity; by night they're full of a meaningless lack of it. By day I am nothing, and by night I am I. There is no difference between me and these streets, save they being streets and I a soul, which perhaps is irrelevant when we consider the essence of things. There is an equal, abstract destiny for men and for things; both have an equally indifferent designation in the algebra of the world's mystery.

(Pessoa, p. 14)

There is a clear and anxious collapse of the distinction between the self or the idea of a separate human being and the world around him or her. As the text notes: "There is no difference between me and these streets, save they being streets and I a soul, which perhaps is irrelevant when we consider the essence of things." This clearly refers to the unreality and the illusion of a sense of self that is separate or distinct for the world or the environment that surrounds it.

The existential anxiety of this view is also expressed in the above quotation. This refers to the "… equal, abstract destiny for men and for things." One could interpret this line as expressing a sense of despair at any attempt to find conclusive and stable meaning in either one's sense of individuality or the environment or world outside oneself. It seems to the author that any discussion or hope of life's meaning is one that is doomed to failure in the face of the complex and paradoxical forces that drive one's life and being. This same feeling of a loss of meaning is expressed in the following lines from the Book of Disquiet: "We never know self-realization.

We are two abysses -- a well staring at the sky." (Pessoa, p. 14)

In essence, if we sum up the philosophical relevance of Pessoa's work in the Book of Disquiet and others, we could agree with the following assessment by Poplawski: "Pessoa's "desassossego" (disquietude) is perhaps the best term of all to characterize Western modernity's deeper loss of grounds for meaning in its utmost consciousness of the opacity of language." (Poplawski 293) in other words, the disintegration of a stable and centered sense of self or ego is a reflection of the modern or rather postmodern view that there is a loss of the ground of any meaning at the core of the modern world. In Pessoa's work this theme takes the form of the dislocation and disintegration of human identity, which in turn is reflected in the creation of the heteronyms. As Gray (2001) states, "Pessoa's jostling aliases expressed his absolute belief that the individual subject, the core of European philosophy, religion and morality, is an illusion." (Gray 52) This view highlights the philosophical link between Pessoa's work and the concerns and discourse of postmodern existentialist philosophy. Gray goes further in elucidating the central philosophical premises that underlie the work of this writer: "That the self is multiple, not singular, was Pessoa's most intimate experience. But in writing as he did -- mediumistically, as the channel for a number of personalities with quite disparate histories and values -- Pessoa did more than record his own experiences of dissociation. He diagnosed a condition that was to become widespread in 20th-century Europe -- a highly developed self-consciousness combined with a lack of any fixed view of the world. With neither religion nor the banal humanist faith of the Enlightenment to sustain him, Pessoa retreated into himself, only to find doubt and turmoil." (Gray 52)