Gentle, Soft… and Satirical. The Bucolic and Satire in Diogo Bernardes

Abstract

This study is grounded upon the conceptualization that takes the satirical as a literary mode, susceptible, therefore, to dominate a text or, in it, to present itself in interaction with other modes, accepting or rejecting the expectations open by tradition. In this sense, the expressive subtlety with which it engages itself with texts of genres guided by conventions that would not make its presence foreseeable may constitute an important factor in determining its efficacy. Specifying, the text studies the ways in which satire infiltrates the lyrics and the bucolic works of Diogo Bernardes, a sixteenth century poet repeatedly and paradigmatically identified by the mildness and tenderness of his verses. Taking, as a counterpoint, his letters, in the eclogues of O Lima, we study the exploration of conventions allowing for the satirical treatment of certain circumstances and events of the empirical world, and witness that the shepherds of Diogo Bernardes become authorized and critical observers of the very world they abandon. However, even as their satire is presented in a more direct and impetuous fashion than that offered by the author in his letters, these shepherds do not fail to sing the soft and tender verses typical of bucolic poetry in general and of the works of Diogo Bernardes, in particular.