The opacity of reality in the poetry of Paulo Henriques Britto

Abstract

In the slow and progressive process of denaturalization and desacralization of the modern (and post-modern) world, words gradually became detached from things, and language began to assume a peaceful relationship with the "real" world, becoming its referential mirror. However, for poets and mystics, words still serve as a means to access reality, in which referentiality cannot be taken for granted without disruption (without crisis, nostalgia, or irony) because words have not yet completely detached from things. This article aims to be an exercise in interpreting the multiple, complex, and sometimes contradictory ways in which Paulo Henriques Britto's poetry conceives of and relates to the production of reality through poetic language. The conclusion reached is that despite the critical irony that permeates the author's lyrics, there is a commitment to the power of language as a means by which we invest (and insist) against the opacity of reality, to create possible worlds with it and sometimes impossible fictions.