Memoirs of a disastrous dinner: metonymy of family ruin

Abstract

O esplendor de Portugal (1997), work of the ficcionist António Lobo An­tunes, portrays the members of the same family from different angles. The mother, Isilda, lives in Angola. The three children, whose childhood was lived in Africa, live in Portugal now. The oldest brother, Carlos, decides to promote a meeting among siblings during Christmas in 1995. When ana­lyzed under the trio’s perspective, the novel’s plot happens on December 24, presenting sometimes Carlos’ expectation of the possible arrival of his siblings, sometimes the considerations of Rui and Clarisse about the invita­tion – which, at the end, they ignored. Considering specially the character of Carlos, we intend in this present work, to observe how surprise, expec­tation and disappointment take place around the Christmas supper – and how its non-occurrence seals the definitive disintegration of the family unit.