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Before we jump into José Saramago’s literature, I believe a short biography will help get a better idea about the man and his work.
José Saramago was born in 1922. His great-grandfather was a North African Berber presumed to have fled to Portugal because of a crime. His grandfather, Jerónimo, abandoned when he was a baby, was a keeper of pigs from Ribatejo, one of Portugal’s poorest regions, a desert-like place inhabited mostly by small farmers, peasants and artisans. His father, José de Sousa, was far away at work when his wife was giving birth. He got the surname Saramago unintentionally, one of the episodes that the author most enjoyed repeating in his personal writings: the civil registry clerk, allegedly drunk or out of malice, added Saramago to the family name. Saramago, or horseradish, is a plant known for its acrid taste and for irritating the eyes, and so it was a kind of pejorative nickname. His father only discovered this when he enrolled Saramago in school; much to his father’s chagrin, not only wasn’t he allowed to rectify the name but he actually had to add Saramago to his own name too. The author often joked that he was the first child to name his own father.
José Saramago was born in 1922. His great-grandfather was a North African Berber presumed to have fled to Portugal because of a crime. His grandfather, Jerónimo, abandoned when he was a baby, was a keeper of pigs from Ribatejo, one of Portugal’s poorest regions, a desert-like place inhabited mostly by small farmers, peasants and artisans. His father, José de Sousa, was far away at work when his wife was giving birth. He got the surname Saramago unintentionally, one of the episodes that the author most enjoyed repeating in his personal writings: the civil registry clerk, allegedly drunk or out of malice, added Saramago to the family name. Saramago, or horseradish, is a plant known for its acrid taste and for irritating the eyes, and so it was a kind of pejorative nickname. His father only discovered this when he enrolled Saramago in school; much to his father’s chagrin, not only wasn’t he allowed to rectify the name but he actually had to add Saramago to his own name too. The author often joked that he was the first child to name his own father.
Il est temps que nos jeunes nord africains se mettent à l'oeuvre... pour qu'il en brillent des prix Nobel .....
Et pourquoi pas ?
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