Cartas de Inglaterra
Encyclopedia
Cartas de Inglaterra is a collection of journalism by the 19th century Portuguese novelist Eça de Queiroz. He worked in the Portuguese consular service and was stationed at Newcastle upon Tyne
from late 1874 until April 1879; from then until 1888 he was at Bristol
. During this period he published O Primo Basílio
("Cousin Basílio") and Os Maias
("The Maias"), but he was also writing occasional London letters for the Lisbon daily newspaper Diário de Notícias
. Some of these afterwards appeared in book form as Cartas de Inglaterra.
society or the British Empire
, though he was fascinated by them. This bitter sketch of the British in their Empire comes from the six-article series Os ingleses no Egipto, "The English in Egypt":
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
from late 1874 until April 1879; from then until 1888 he was at Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. During this period he published O Primo Basílio
O Primo Basílio
O Primo Basílio is one of the greatest realist novels of the Portuguese author José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, also known under the modernized spelling Eça de Queirós. He worked in the Portuguese consular service, stationed at 53 Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, from late 1874 until April 1879...
("Cousin Basílio") and Os Maias
Os Maias
Os Maias: episódios da vida romântica is a naturalist novel by Portuguese author José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, also known under the modernized spelling Eça de Queirós.As early as 1878, while serving in the Portuguese...
("The Maias"), but he was also writing occasional London letters for the Lisbon daily newspaper Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias is a Portuguese daily newspaper, founded in Lisbon, on December 29, 1864 by Tomás Quintino Antunes and Eduardo Coelho. It gradually became one of the best known Portuguese newspapers...
. Some of these afterwards appeared in book form as Cartas de Inglaterra.
Outline of Cartas de Inglaterra
In its final published form Cartas de Inglaterra includes the following chapters:- Afeganistão e Irlanda, "AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
": a prophetic analysis, full of black humour, of two overseas adventures in which the British Empire was currently mired - Acerca de livros, "About books": London's autumn "seasons": yachting, shooting, hunting, angling, burglary, lectures, scientific congresses. The book season is the last to be sketched, with a special glance at the vast number of new travel books
- O inverno em Londres, "Winter in London": London is to have a winter season this year
- O Natal, "ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
" and Father Christmas - Literatura de Natal, "Christmas books": books for children, a genre in which English literature was already rich, while Portuguese had scarcely any
- Israelismo, "Judaism": the alarming growth of anti-SemitismAnti-SemitismAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1880, apparently with the tacit approval of the German government - A Irlanda e a Liga Agrária, "Ireland and the Land LeagueIrish National Land LeagueThe Irish Land League was an Irish political organization of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmers to own the land they worked on...
": growing resistance, led by ParnellCharles Stewart ParnellCharles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
, to oppression in the Irish countryside - Lorde Beaconsfield, "Lord BeaconsfieldBenjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of BeaconsfieldBenjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure. Starting from comparatively humble origins, he served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom...
": the death of the statesman and author in 1881, his remarkable life story, his fantastic and unreadable fiction (e.g. TancredTancred (novel)Tancred; or, The New Crusade is a novel by Benjamin Disraeli, first published by Henry Colburn in three volumes. Together with Coningsby and Sybil it forms a sequence sometimes called the Young England trilogy...
) and poetry (The Revolutionary Epick) - Os ingleses no Egipto, "The English in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
": the destruction and occupation of AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
by British forces in 1882 and the danger of JihadJihadJihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
. See quotation below - O Brasil e Portugal, "BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
": reflections on a special article on Brazil in The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International... - A festa das crianças, "The children's party": an elaborate fancy dress party somewhere near TintagelTintagelTintagel is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The population of the parish is 1,820 people, and the area of the parish is ....
- Uma partida feita ao Times, "A practical joke at The Times": a few lines of erotic text interpolatedHarcourt interpolationThe Harcourt interpolation was a scandal of Victorian London in which a rogue compositor inserted an obscene remark into a page proof for The Times newspaper, in the middle of a speech by a leading politician of the day...
, by an unknown hand, into the report of a speech by Sir William HarcourtWilliam Vernon Harcourt (politician)Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of...
Eça de Queiroz and the English
Eça, a cosmopolitan widely read in English literature, had no admiration for EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
society or the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, though he was fascinated by them. This bitter sketch of the British in their Empire comes from the six-article series Os ingleses no Egipto, "The English in Egypt":