Readings of print journalism in José Saramago's "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis"

Abstract

The work of the writer José Saramago is richly nourished by journalism, especially the written press. An eloquent example of this is the novel O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis, in which the protagonist reads the press daily and obsessively. Recreating the historical context of Portugal in 1936, Saramago's novel demonstrates how even a manipulated and possible press, through the controlled action of censorship and the consequent lack of freedom, is a mirror or repository of information of a time, especially in the crucial year of the propaganda of the Estado Novo regime, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Revolution of 1926.