Alfredo Guisado and the Orpheu affair: tracing the magazine's reception and impact through the Távora archive

Abstract

Created by a group of practically unknown young writers and artists, when it appeared in 1915, Orpheu caused a scandal of significant proportions for a literary phenomenon, and the striking echoes in the mainstream press ensured its notoriety well beyond the moment of publication. The extent to which this outcome was planned or the result of chance circumstances is discussed in this essay, which reappraises the contemporary reception of Orpheu in the light of new findings yielded by the Távora archive, namely two notebooks with cuttings of press reviews kept by Alfredo Guisado. By considering these, the article reviews the latter's role in the making of the Orpheu's critical fortune. Guisado was one of the few authors associated with Orpheu who had published works before the magazine appeared. Through his early association with the mentors of the magazine, he was also one of the first members of the Orpheu group to write under the influence of the poetics that became associated with it. Therefore, his works document the tenor of the movement that was established through Orpheu, which will be revisited through the analysis of the manuscript of a poem – thought to be previously unpublished – found among Guisado's papers in the Távora archive.

Keywords

• Guisado, Alfredo Pedro
• Orpheu
• Periodicals
• Poetry
• Paulism
• Reception
• Sensationism
• Poesia