Viagens na Minha Terra. Esplorazioni iberiche della prossimità (cibo e thanaturismo)

Abstract

The chapter takes as starting point a famous book by Almeida Garrett, Viagens na Minha Terra (1846), one of the first books to explore a nearby reality in the Iberian area, a mixed genre work, fundamental in the construction of the Portuguese national identity through the author’s journey to Portugal. It is an internalised landscape from which many historical or fantastic episodes arise related to themes that the author expresses: the violence of war, the joke of the gothic novel, anti-religious criticism about the parasitism of the friars. The purpose of this article is to reflect on several examples of proximity travel written by Iberian authors: José Pla, Viaje en autobús (1942), Camilo José Cela, Viaje a la Alcarria (1946) and José Saramago, Viagem a Portugal (1981). These travel books take advantage of the travelogue feature: to travel, but also to express opinions, analysis and criticisms with the eyes of the essayist, so that the result is much more than a simple guide, with the advantage that travellers are profound connoisseurs of the reality they visit.