Genological masks: Camões, character of Natalia Correia (a reading of ‘erros meus, má fortuna, amor ardente’)

Abstract

Starting from the concept of “epiczation”, proposed by Barbalosi e Plana (2012), the objective of this essay is to point out a reading of the play Erros meus, má fortuna, amor ardente (1981), by Natália Correia. Camões appears as the protagonist of the plot, woven within the trajectory of the poet, from Lisbon to the exile and, finally, his return. Leaving aside the dynamics of historical drama – although the contextual facts there appear as a way of emphasizing the most pressing thematic issues –, Natalia Correia, already from the title, establishes a game of intertextual citations with the purpose of revealing the masks of her character. The idea here focuses on the possibility of thinking each of the genres developed by the Portuguese poet, presented throughout the dramatic piece, as a kind of persona where its creator sought to distil from the bitterness of a conscious disconcert to the suffering of many loved dimensions: to the beloved women and to the motherland.