Lendas e Narrativas

Alexandre Herculano de Carvalho e AraújoProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 335K words
Chapters: 34

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Lendas e Narrativas (Tomo I) by Alexandre HerculanoAuthor: Herculano, Alexandre, 1810-1877,Language: Portuguese, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jan 1, 2006

Editor's review

This is Volume I of Lendas e Narrativas by Alexandre Herculano, a leading figure of Portuguese Romanticism. The collection gathers prose pieces in which he revisits national historical memory, retelling medieval and early Portuguese stories in literary form. Blending historical sources, folk legend and literary imagination, it paints old-world scenes of monasteries, knights, royalty and commoners while pursuing the Romantic preoccupation with national spirit and moral order. The prose has the gravity and lyricism of nineteenth-century writing; the pace is slow but the imagery vivid. It serves well as an introduction to the Portuguese Romantic narrative tradition and Iberian historical legend, and is especially valuable for learners of Portuguese and for students of European Romantic national storytelling. The electronic edition makes searching and comparative reading easy. Readers should distinguish his legends from documented history and enjoy his game of "using literature to witness history."

Who it's for

A good fit for

Advanced learners of Portuguese who wish to engage with nineteenth-century literary texts in the original
Readers interested in Iberian historical legend and European Romantic national narrative
Students of Portuguese literary history who need a sense of Herculano's work
Readers who enjoy slow-paced, atmospheric historical prose and are not put off by an old-fashioned style

Not a good fit for

Readers of popular fiction who want fast plots and strong conflict
Beginners with no Portuguese who cannot find a reliable translation
Readers seeking rigorous historical scholarship rather than literary legend

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and opening notes first, and establish the historical background of each piece before starting it.
After each piece, sum up its legendary core and the author's value judgments in one or two sentences.
Look up unfamiliar place names and figures as you go, so you do not lose the thread for lack of context.
If the language proves difficult, use a reliable translation or introduction to grasp the story first, then return to the original.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a work of history or of literature?

It is closer to literary historical narrative: the author draws on events and legends from medieval and early Portuguese history but retells them in Romantic prose, with imagination and moral purpose. It should be read not as strict historiography but as a text for understanding nineteenth-century Portuguese national narrative and literary taste.

Can I read it without any Portuguese?

The original is in Portuguese and the language barrier is considerable. Readers with no Portuguese will find it hard to start directly; first consult a reliable translation or bilingual introduction, then decide whether to return to the original. If your aim is to learn Portuguese, treat it as advanced reading material and work through it slowly with a dictionary and notes.

Why does the electronic edition mention Project Gutenberg?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg, a platform offering free electronic books, and the records show it was posted fairly early. That information indicates only the source and channel of the file, not the work's date of composition or a scholarly account of its textual versions; note the differences between editions when citing it.

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About the author

Alexandre Herculano de Carvalho e Araújo Author · Portuguese · 1810–1877

Alexandre Herculano (1810–1877) was a Portuguese historian, novelist and poet, regarded as the founder of Portuguese Romanticism. Because of his liberal convictions he went into exile in England and France, and later served as a librarian at the Royal Library and was elected a member of parliament. His four-volume History of Portugal verifies facts against original documents, reflecting a rigorous historical method. In literature he wrote the historical novels Eurico, o presbítero and O Monge de Cister, as well as Lendas e Narrativas, and left poems such as A Harpa do Crente and Poesias. The collection holds fourteen of his works, including Lendas e Narrativas and several volumes of Opúsculos, covering both historical essays and literary narrative.