Saramago, José (zh
zĕ` sär'ämä`g), 1922–, Portuguese novelist and short-story writer. A Communist, Saramago was essentially a journalist until the revolution of 1974. Often employing paradox and irony and mingling humor with melancholy, much of his work provides a Portuguese view of Iberian history, blending historical events with mythical and allegorical elements. Saramago's protagonists are often portrayed resisting some kind of stifling and dehumanizing social institution. His novels include Levantado do chão [raised from the floor] (1980); Memorial do convento (1982; tr. Baltasar and Blimunda, 1987), the work that first brought him international acclaim; O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis (1984; tr. The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, 1990); A jangada de pedra (1986; tr. The Stone Raft, 1995); O evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo (1991; tr. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, 1994); Ensaio sobre a cegueira (1995; tr. Blindness, 1998), perhaps his finest work, and its sequel, Ensaio sobre a lucidez (2004; tr. Seeing, 2006); Todos os nomes (1997; tr. All the Names, 1999); A Caverna (2000; tr. The Cave, 2002); and Homem duplicado (2002; tr. The Double, 2004). He has also written poetry, essays, plays, and a journal. Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998.
zĕ` sär'ämä`g), 1922–, Portuguese novelist and short-story writer. A Communist, Saramago was essentially a journalist until the revolution of 1974. Often employing paradox and irony and mingling humor with melancholy, much of his work provides a Portuguese view of Iberian history, blending historical events with mythical and allegorical elements. Saramago's protagonists are often portrayed resisting some kind of stifling and dehumanizing social institution. His novels include Levantado do chão [raised from the floor] (1980); Memorial do convento (1982; tr. Baltasar and Blimunda, 1987), the work that first brought him international acclaim; O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis (1984; tr. The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, 1990); A jangada de pedra (1986; tr. The Stone Raft, 1995); O evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo (1991; tr. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, 1994); Ensaio sobre a cegueira (1995; tr. Blindness, 1998), perhaps his finest work, and its sequel, Ensaio sobre a lucidez (2004; tr. Seeing, 2006); Todos os nomes (1997; tr. All the Names, 1999); A Caverna (2000; tr. The Cave, 2002); and Homem duplicado (2002; tr. The Double, 2004). He has also written poetry, essays, plays, and a journal. Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998.
Bibliography
See study by H. Bloom, ed. (2005).
Saramago, José
(born Nov. 16, 1922, Azinhaga, Port.) Portuguese novelist. From a poor family, Saramago studied part-time while working in a welder's shop. Later he began working as a journalist and translator. He published his first novel, Country of Sin, in 1947. His breakthrough work, Baltasar and Blimunda (1982), alternates allegorical fantasy with grimly realistic descriptions of the construction of a convent by thousands of labourers pressed into service. Saramago's later novels, in which magic realism is mixed with outspoken political commentary, include The Stone Raft (1986), perhaps his best-known work, and Blindness (1995). He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.
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