Horácio Bento de Gouveia: Novels dashed by the Sea

Abstract

What dimension did Bento de Gouveia give to it? What importance did the sea have for this writer who portrayed the Madeiran islander identity so well, mainly in the north of the island where life was harder?
As we went through Lágrimas Correndo Mundo (1959), Águas Mansas (1963), Canga (1975), Torna-Viagem (1979), Margareta (1980) and Luísa Marta (1982), we realised that the sea is present in these literary works. And it is not merely about the sea that one gazes in amazement; it is about the sea that takes and brings people and things, the sea that is rough because it is the Northern Sea, the sea that makes way for emigration and evasion, the sea that separates, attracts and constrains the islander life.

Keywords

Novel; Horácio Bento de Gouveia; Sea; Islander Identity.