On the Tragic Sense in Unamuno and Pessoa “Les fois que l’impossible au nécessaire se joint”

Abstract

To confront two major writers and, indeed, thinkers of the Iberian Peninsula in the early 20th century is a challenge to be embraced, albeit with some circumspection. In the process, the tense relationship between the discourses of literary creation and philosophical musing will be broached. The evidence of any mutual awareness of their respective writings in the case of Miguel de Unamuno and Fernando Pessoa is scant. Whilst there is no recognition in the former of the latter, the Portuguese author certainly knew enough of the writings of the prolific Spaniard to have published several texts wherein he rejected the thinking of his near-contemporary. Close examination, however, reveals that the relationship between the writings of the two is complex enough to bear further scrutiny.