REGRESSO À CÚPULA DA PENA: THE MYTH OF THE ETERNAL RETURN IN THE WORK OF JOSÉ RODRIGUES MIGUÉIS

Abstract

José Rodrigues Miguéis’ most unsual fictional narrative (Return of Dome Pena), was considered by Óscar Lopes a prose poem about the return of the Portuguese to their homeland. In this tale, which gives rise to the myth of Eternal Return, an expatriate goes back to Lisbon to rejoin his people, and especially himself. The plot follows an almost cinematic pace, full of anxiety and tension, with the hero’s haziness to readapt to the present time. Portugal of the past is far and inaccessible to the traveler's eyes, who does not want to be a foreigner in his country. The clash that took place at the dome of Pena Palace assumes a mythical feature, in which the narrator-character faces his own ghosts in a struggle of life and death. The emblematic confrontation of Self against Other, which wanders between levels of dream and imagination, implies an initial question to then find a supernatural explanation that will remain buried beneath the mask of ambiguity.