Saudade
No examination of the culture of Portugal can be complete without considering saudade. Arguably, it is saudade that defines the culture of Portugal. Unique to Portugal (and Brazil), and without translation beyond, it spans the three levels of culture described by Nitza Hidalgo [24]: the behavioral, the concrete, and the symbolic.
“Saudade is a key emotion word for Portuguese speakers. Though akin to nostalgia or longing, the term has no direct equivalent in English. It is the presence of absence, ‘of someone or some place – of something, anyway’. One can have saudades for people or places, as well as sounds, smells, and foods. One can even have saudades for saudade itself. That is because ‘it is good to have saudades’ (é bom ter saudades), as the common saying goes. There is a certain pleasure in the feeling. Though painful, the sting of saudades is a reminder of a good that came before.
Saudade (José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior) [32]
Writing in 1912, the Portuguese poet Teixeira de Pascoaes defined saudade as ‘desire for the beloved thing, made painful by its absence’. It is an acute feeling, often described as occurring in the heart. The language of saudade is evocative. Portuguese speakers complain of ‘dying of saudades’ (morrendo de saudades), or wanting to ‘kill saudades’ (matar saudades) by fulfilling desire. Though hyperbolic, the word’s morbid poetics throw light on how affective ties make for a meaningful human life.
Popular tradition relates saudade to the feeling of distance and loss suffered by the families of men off at sea during the age of Portuguese discoveries. While this folk history captures the term’s poetic ambivalence, its etymology is unclear. The archaic form soidade appears in 13th-century troubadour verses recounting the laments of distant lovers. Most scholars suggest that this form derives from the Latin solitate (solitude), and was possibly later influenced by the Portuguese word saudar (‘to greet’) before arriving at the present form. But some scholars have offered alternative etymologies, including one that traces saudade to the Arabic sawdā, a word that can denote a dark or melancholy mood. It is a high-stakes debate: saudade is integral to Portuguese self-understanding, and the question of the word’s origins reflects deeper concerns about Portuguese ethnicity and identity.
Saudade is always a pleasure and an indulgence. It is a feeling that manages to give, despite being a confrontation with what has been taken away. It is revelatory: when caught in saudade’s grip, we become aware of that which is most important to us, that which makes us what we are.” [33]
The Culture of Portugal
In “Multicultural Teacher Introspection,” Nitza Hidalgo identifies three levels of culture: concrete, behavioral, and symbolic. What follows is an attempt to define the culture of Portugal using her model. [24]
Concrete:
“The most visible and tangible level of culture. Includes the surface-level dimensions such as clothes, music, food, games, and so on. These aspects of culture are often those which provide the focus for multicultural festivals or celebrations.” [25]
“Portuguese culture is based on a past that dates from prehistoric times into the eras of Roman and Moorish invasion. Throughout the centuries Portugal’s arts have been enriched by foreign influences, including Flemish, French, and Italian. The voyages of the Portuguese explorers, such as Ferdinand Magellan, who was the first to circumnavigate the globe, and Vasco da Gama, who pioneered an eastern route to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope (the first European to sail around the cape was another Portuguese navigator, Bartolomeu Dias, in 1488), opened the country to Asian influences, and the revelation of Brazil’s wealth of gold and jewels fed the Baroque flame in decoration. [27]
The archeological record suggests that Portugal has been occupied since the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age), and perhaps before. Phoenicians, Greeks, and Celts intermingled with the settled inhabitants. In time, the Romans, Germanic tribes, Visigoths, Moors, and Jews followed, with their own influence on the country. Portugal’s location at the western extremity of Europe made it a gathering place for invaders by land, and its long coastline invited settlement by seafarers. [26]
Yet the majority of the population of Portugal is ethnically uniform. “More than nine-tenths of the country’s population are ethnic Portuguese, and there are also small numbers of Brazilians, Han Chinese, and people from Portugal’s former colonial possessions in Africa and Asia.” [26]
The Portuguese have their own distinctive way of life. Lifestyles have altered radically as rural populations have declined and cities and their suburbs have expanded. Urban centers provide a range of entertainment, and fairs and markets are highlights of social gatherings. A long tradition of dancing and singing continues among the Portuguese. Nearly every village has its own terreiro, or dance floor. Each region has its own style of dances and songs. [28]
Small accordions and gaitas, or bagpipes, are among a considerable range of instruments that accompany dances, and Portuguese guitars (and sometimes violas) accompany the fado, a song form that epitomizes saudade—the yearning, romantic [and often melancholy] aspect of the Portuguese character. Regional dances often reflect the courting and matrimonial traditions of the area.” [28]
“Access to supermarkets has transformed eating habits in cities and urban areas. In the countryside the staple diet is one of fish, vegetables, and fruit. Although Portugal’s waters abound with fresh fish, the dried salted codfish known as bacalhau, now often imported, is considered the national dish. A seafood stew known as cataplana (for the hammered copper clamshell-style vessel in which it is cooked) is ubiquitous throughout the country. In many areas meat is seldom eaten, although the Alentejo region is known for its pork and Trás-os-Montes for cured meats. Cozido a portuguesa, a stew made with meats and vegetables, is a popular dish. Breads, cakes, and sweets—the last one a legacy of Moorish occupation—take a variety of forms, with many regional specialties. Portugal is well known for its wide variety of cheeses. Wine is the ubiquitous table beverage. Perhaps the most famous Portuguese export is the fortified wine called port, named after the town of Porto, where it has been bottled for centuries.” [28]
Behavioral:
“This level of culture clarifies how we define our social roles, the language we speak, and our approaches to nonverbal communication. The Behavioral level reflects values. Aspects to be listed in this category include language, gender roles, family structure, political affiliation, and other items that situate people organizationally in society.” [25]
“Language is an extremely common bond: Portuguese is the first language of nearly the entire population.” [27]
Fishing, one of the earliest enterprises of the Portuguese, still plays an important role in coastal communities. Owing in part to the rigours and hazards of this and certain other traditionally male occupations, as well as intensive waves of largely male emigration, women have substantially outnumbered men in the Portuguese population since the first modern census in 1864. [30]
Symbolic:
“This level of culture includes values and beliefs. It can be abstract, but it is often the most important level in terms of how individuals define themselves. It includes value systems, customs, spirituality, religion, world view, beliefs, mores, and so on.” [25]
“Some ninth-tenths of Portugal’s citizens are Roman Catholic. Regular attendance at mass [sic], however, has declined in the cities and larger towns, particularly in the south. Less than 2 percent of the population is Protestant, with Anglicans and Methodists the oldest and largest denominations. In the late 20th century, fundamentalist and Evangelical churches grew in popularity, though the number of their adherents remained quite small. The Jewish population of Portugal is also tiny, as Jews were forced to convert or emigrate during the Inquisition in the late 15th century.” [31] “Religious customs . . . still include, in the north, the burning of the yule log in the atrium of the village church at Christmas so that the poor may warm themselves. Twice annually (May and October) large numbers of the faithful make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Fátima, where three children reported that they had received messages from the Virgin Mary. All Saints’ Day festivals (November 1), especially in Lisbon and Porto, draw large crowds.” [29]