Love’s Old Sweet Song: A pesada herança do Modernismo (XVIII International James Joyce Symposium, Trieste, 16-22 de Junho de 2002)

Just a song at twilightWhen the lights are low,And the flick’ring shadowsSoftly come and goThough the heart be wearySad the day and long,Still to us at twilight comes Love’s old songComes Love’s old sweet song “Love’s Old Sweet Song” de J. L. Molloy foi o tema de abertura do Concerto para James Joyce que se realizou em Junho do ano passado no teatro Cristallo em Trieste no âmbito do 18º Congresso da James Joyce Foundation. E para quem duvidasse fica aqui a certeza de que os joycianos também c..

Alguém mais belo do que eu: Alberto Caeiro, Leopold Bloom, o Portugal de Pessoa, a Irlanda de Joyce e outras Brancas de Neve

Ao definir-se como um quarto de espelhos fantásticos, Fernando Pessoa encontra no espelho a única certeza comum a todas as “reflexões falsas”, a materialização da “única anterior realidade” que os seus inúmeros espelhos “torcem”. Tomando a Branca de Neve como uma sublimação final da beleza usurpadora da Madrasta e a corporização de uma beleza inicial, considerarei os “inúmeros espelhos fantásticos” de Pessoa e o “cracked looking glass” de Joyce como distorcidas sequelas de uma qualquer pureza de origem ou de uma superfície reflectora una. Argumento que Caeiro, Bloom, o Império Espiritual de Pessoa e a “Irlanda Caricatura do Mundo Sério” de Joyce virão a ser a materialização dessa superfície reflectora de origem, Brancas de Neve posteriores às realidades que lhes são madrastas mas colocadas estrategicamente na sua origem e destinadas a suprir a ausência de uma “única anterior realidade” – pessoal, nacional e global.In a memorable depiction of himself as a house of mirrors, Fernando Pessoa leaves us in an empty room where the looking glass itself becomes the author’s “single previous reality,” the materialization of his inaccessible core, the only tangible certainty common to all the distorted images that are reflected. As Snow White becomes both a final sublimation of the Evil Queen’s usurping beauty, and the embodiment of an original legitimate beauty, so Pessoa’s “numberless mirrors” and Joyce’s “cracked looking glass” become, along with all “realities,” fragmented reflections of a single original reflecting surface. Speculating around the mirror in “Little Snow White,” I will take Caeiro, Bloom, Pessoa’s Spiritual Empire and Joyce’s Caricature of the Serious World, as personal, national and global congregating devices strategically positioned at the origin of all “reflections” and made out to stand for their absent “previous reality.”En se définissant comme une chambre à miroirs fantastiques, Fernando Pessoa trouve dans le miroir la seule certitude commune à toutes les “fausses réflexions”, la matérialisation de l’ “unique réalité antérieure” que ses innombrables miroirs “déforment”. Considérant la Blanche-Neige comme une sublimation finale de la beauté usurpatrice de la Belle-Mère et une incarnation d’une beauté initiale, je considérerai les “innombrables miroirs fantastiques” de Pessoa et le “cracked looking glass” de Joyce comme des séquelles déformées d’une quelconque pureté de fond ou d’une surface réfléchissante faite d’une seule pièce. Mon raisonnement est le suivant : Caeiro, Bloom, l’Empire Spirituel de Pessoa et l’“Irlande caricature du monde sérieux” de Joyce deviendront la matérialisation de cette surface réfléchissante de fond, des Blanche-Neige postérieures aux réalités qui sont pour elles des belles‑mères, mais placées stratégiquement à leur origine et destinées à suppléer l’absence d’une “unique réalité antérieure” – personnelle, nationale et globale

No princípio era a máscara : primitivismo como modernidade em Pessoa, Joyce e Scott Fitzgerald

Tese de doutoramento em Línguas e Literaturas Modernas (Literatura Inglesa) apresentada à Fac. de Letras da Univ. de Coimbr

Alguém mais belo do que eu: Alberto Caeiro, Leopold Bloom, o Portugal de Pessoa, a Irlanda de Joyce e outras Brancas de Neve

In a memorable depiction of himself as a house of mirrors, Fernando Pessoa leaves us in an empty room where the looking glass itself becomes the author’s “single previous reality,” the materialization of his inaccessible core, the only tangible certainty common to all the distorted images that are reflected. As Snow White becomes both a final sublimation of the Evil Queen’s usurping beauty, and the embodiment of an original legitimate beauty, so Pessoa’s “numberless mirrors” and Joyce’s “cracked looking glass” become, along with all “realities,” fragmented reflections of a single original reflecting surface. Speculating around the mirror in “Little Snow White,” I will take Caeiro, Bloom, Pessoa’s Spiritual Empire and Joyce’s Caricature of the Serious World, as personal, national and global congregating devices strategically positioned at the origin of all “reflections” and made out to stand for their absent “previous reality.

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved