The poetic travel itineraries of Fernando Pessoa and the spatiotemporal conditions of the contemporary world

Abstract

In the late nineteenth century, the modern concepts of space and time were col lapsing , with the acceleration of social rhythms (speed of transport and communication). Pessoa’s work is a penetrating reflection on the contemporary, with existential and aesthetic implications condensed in “sensationalism". To think of its relationship with history challenges the historian accustomed to regard literature as a mere document.