The affective and literary formation of José Saramago in Small memories

Abstract

José Saramago once wrote that "Everything is autobiography". Taking into account the complex theoretical scaffolding that the author built around his own work, this article attempts to assess what role Small memories plays within a fictional literary production which had already been regarded as the utmost expression of the persona of its author. Led by the writings of Gaston Bachelard, Philippe Lejeune, Georges Gusdorf and Paul de Man on memory, childhood and autobiographical writing, it delivers a reading of Small memories as the "germination time" of themes, plots and characters that would later become trademark of his novels.