Cleonice Berardinelli camonist

Abstract

Based on the reading of Estudos Camonianos (1973) and Falas... (1994) by Cleonice Berardinelli, the text develops the hypothesis that the scholar’s attention to the structure of the classical Epic is the way to understand the foundations of the past in Luís de Camões’s Os Lusíadas (1572), and the principles of a new writing, which are crucial to understanding the current relevance of Camões’ work. In focusing on the Lyric, particularly the sonnets, the text considers, through the sure hand of the Camonist, the human condition of the Poet of and in his Portuguese time in crisis: the 16th century politically traversed by the historical Renaissance and, culturally, by poetic Humanism, in which the amorous contradictions between pure and iron epic-lyrical Love make the reverberated poet a figure of our contemporary world. The dialogue between Cleonice Berardinelli and Hannah Arendt advances an ongoing pedagogical agenda that combines aesthetic freedom with ethical commitment, when dignified and responsible.