In just a few weeks I will be leaving Portugal and start living in Norway. This, up to a certain point, explains why I have been neglecting my blog for so long. I have been busy making arrangements, taking care of different things, but mostly it’s that I have been using the small amount of time that I have left to do things that will not be possible once I start living in Norway, namely, spending as much time as possible with friends and family and also spending as much time as possible at the beach, taking as much sun as possible before I move to a place where in winter time there are only three or four hours of sun light.
As I am getting ready to leave, I find myself being sometimes touched by this nostalgic feeling that in portuguese is called saudade. This word, we are often told, has no accurate translation in foreign languages. I really don’t know if this is so, only that in the foreign languages that I know I can’t find any appropriate equivalent.
Saudade is supposed to be something very deep and distinctively Portuguese in character, but its importance is, I always thought, greatly magnified, and that, in turn, keeps people too much attached to the past – or rather to an idealized past made only of pleasant memories- and implies a certain amount of fatalism, as if what the future might bring us could never match that past. This feeling is strongly connected with the act of leaving and is cultivated by the Portuguese as a way to keep a link to their roots, since we are traditionally a people of emigrants and travellers. It is an ambivalent feeling, both positive and negative, and it is that blend that provides its deepness and subtlety. However, as far as I perceive it, it has been too much influenced by the excessive value that is attributed to suffering, something that is culturally induced by the catholic religion, which overloads this feeling. Those who leave are supposed to be making a great sacrifice, while for me to leave means rather an opportunity to improve one’s life and expand one’s knowedge and worldview.
Until now, I could only experience the saudade felt by those who stay, and only after I leave I will really grasp what does it mean. I’m not particularly worried about that, but still, just in case, I am pre-emptively engaging in what we call portuguese ‘matar saudades’, killing this feeling, by enjoying the things that I will have to give up when I leave, like the sun, the mild weather, the tasty food, the company of people I love, while already looking forward the new experiences that this change in my life will bring me.
With this post I am resuming my regular blogging. I want to thank my readers for the nice messages that they wrote during my absense.
Hi Sarah,
I actually know this word. It is so special that it was used as an example in the book “Mind Performance Hacks” of how you can use word spectra to demostrate the meaning of “untranslatable” words.
You can see it here: http://tinyurl.com/ovvm57
(I used the tiny url because the link to Google books is so long. )
Best of luck in Norway and please consider stopping by to see us here in Belgrade again soon.
Kind regards,
Jonathan
Welcome back, before you go! I presume the picture means that you’ll miss fishing for large brown-crust sandwiches.
Good luck!. I’m sure you’ll know how to enjoy with all the different things you’ll find, although you’ll miss the sun, the people, the sea (I understand you very well!). All the best for you, Sarah. I’m very happy to read you again.
Montse
“Obligado o voluntario, el exilio tiene también algo de patria; de segunda patria, claro. Y cuando nos propone su alrededor de prójimos, entramos en su gracia. Y damos gracias”. ( De Vivir adrede. Mario Benedetti)
De mi admirado Mario Benedetti, que nos dejó hace unos días.
Should you feel «saudade», you just give us a call and we’ll take the next ship to Norway!!! LOOL!!!!…. (or the next flight…). Beijinhos!!!
Good to finally hear from you again–what an exciting move for you! Looking forward to your return to regular blogging once you get settled in. Please keep us posted!
Norway? Get those thermals ready!
good luck, and remember when you return to Portugal you will appreciate it all the more
Good luck, Sarah! And keep blogging!
And take a look at this post over at my blog:
http://martininthemargins.blogspot.com/2009/05/saturday-afternoon-saudade.html
Martin
So nice to see you back Sarah, I wish you all the luck in Norway. Cheers!
Sempre encarei a partida como o primeiro passo de uma série de movimentos que culminam num regresso. Mais cedo ou mais tarde regresso sempre ao porto de origem, pelo que partir já não me provoca saudade alguma.
Curiosamente, sinto saudades dos que partem, em especial daqueles cuja viagem não tem regresso. Ainda recentemente me aconteceu ir a subir uma avenida em Lisboa, ver um senhor grisalho de “blaser” azul e saco de compras na mão e parar instintivamente para perguntar:
-”Pai, quer boleia?”
Espero que ao partir fique o teu contacto e a possibilidade de uma visita de vez em quando…, para matar saudades…
Hey, are you settled yet? Hope all is well.
Action Alert: Please get involved !!!
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2009/07/action-alert-karadzic-must-answer.html
The medium is becoming the message.
There is an exact translation of “saudade” in my mother tongue (Bosnian).
The word is “ceznja”. We also have an old Ottoman import “sevdah”, which although seldom used in the modern vernacular, also means “saudade”.
For example….there is an old song in Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian….which goes something like this: “od sevdaha, umire mi srce za tobom”..
“o meu coracao esta morrendo de saudade de voce”.
In this context….Bosnia’s old Ottoman-Arab “import” is an exact synonym of Portugal’s “saudade”.
I’ve been speaking portuguese for a long time (many years in Brazil) but it’s only recently that I realized….that saudade=sevdah=ceznja….and that the origin of the word is Arabic.
That’s fascinating! Might that mean a common origin for fado and sevdah?
Thank you Owen, I’ll get back at my regular blogging very soon.
Sadie, that is really interesting!
Olá Sarah!
É bom ter saudades, até porque nem sempre as temos, nem as sentimos por toda a gente. Foste embora sem termos tido oportunidade de conversar mais um bocado. Espero que tenha feito um bom voo, com boas leituras. Aguardo os comentários com curiosidade…
Beijo,
Alex