Pessoa. Il sottile equilibrio tra genialità e follia

The essay examines the formation of Fernando Pessoa’s scientific and pseudoscientific imprint especially in the period of time between 1907 and 1912, a period in which the poet composes an immense amount of reflections and observations on the madness and nature of genius , considered in their clinical, aptitude and social aspect. These observations constitute the starting point for the formulation of the concept of heteronymy, whose genesis has its deepest roots in the medical treatises circulating in the cultural circles of the early twentieth century. The theme of madness and genius runs through the whole work of the Portuguese writer; it is traceable not only in the literary fiction staged by the characters of the imaginary coterie, but it becomes an integral part of one’s real life, that which the author returns in the pages of the diary and in the letters addressed to his fiancée.