When History is Challenged

One of the most prominent literatures in the world, Portuguese literature originally came in the form of verse, with indigenous oral poetry—often sung—among its earliest manifestations. Poetic movements during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were seminal in the growth and expansion of Portuguese literature. Eventually and gradually, prose form was integrated into Portuguese writing. Like most prose of the period, the earliest Portuguese works consisted of religious writings, brief annals of early kings, and moral tales. From its humble beginnings, Portuguese literature has evolved into a rich and diverse body of work that boasts some of the most influential voices in world literature. Some of the defining figures in the Portuguese literary canon include Fernando Pessoa, Luís de Camões, Eça de Queirós, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Almeida Garrett, and Florbela Espanca.

In the rich tapestry of contemporary Portuguese literature, a prominent figure is José Saramago. Born on November 16, 1922, in Azinhaga, a small town in the Portuguese countryside, he grew up in abject poverty. When he came of age and moved to the country’s capital, he held a series of jobs, including mechanic and metalworker. Nevertheless, this period was seminal in forging his path toward a career in literature. In the two years he spent working menial jobs, he developed a love for reading, often spending his free time in a public library. Eventually, he was accepted into a Lisbon publishing firm, opening the door to opportunities in journalism and translation. In 1947, his path toward becoming a writer formally began with the publication of his first novel, Terra do Pecado (Land of Sin), only for it to be followed by a long period of literary silence.

As the adage goes, what is meant for you will eventually find its way back to you. Nearly two decades after his first published work, Saramago returned to his passion, though he remained an obscure name. His breakthrough came in his sixties with the publication of his fourth novel, Memorial do Convento, in 1982. It became a literary sensation. Its English translation, Baltasar and Blimunda (1988), catapulted Saramago to global recognition. His works earned him various accolades, including the 1980 Prémio Cidade de Lisboa, the Prémio PEN Club Português in 1983 and 1984, and the 1986 Prémio da Crítica da Associação Portuguesa. In 1995, he received the Prémio Camões—the most prestigious prize for literature in the Portuguese language. In 1998, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, often considered the highest achievement for any writer.

History as well, Especially history, without wishing to give offence, And painting and music, Music has resisted since birth, it comes and goes, tries to free itself from the word, I suppose out of envy, only to submit in the end, And painting, Well now, painting is nothing more than literature achieved with paintbrushes.

José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

During their presentation, among Saramago’s works cited by the Swedish Academy was The History of the Siege of Lisbon. Originally published in 1989 as História do Cerco de Lisboa, the novel opens in the twentieth century, where we meet Raimundo Silva, a fifty-year-old celibate clerk working as a proofreader for a small but reputable publishing house in Lisbon. Described as withdrawn and indecisive but meticulous in his duties, Raimundo has earned a reputation for being a connoisseur of the titular Siege of Lisbon. The crux of the story emerges when he is tasked with proofreading the manuscript of The History of the Siege of Lisbon. He is unimpressed—finding it uninteresting, predictable, and adding little value to the subject, as it merely conforms to standard interpretations of the events that took place between July 1 and October 25, 1147.

Historically, the siege was critical in the expansion of Christian monarchies and was one of the few definitive victories of the Second Crusade. With this victory, the Kingdom of Portugal was established. Before the siege, the Portuguese capital was occupied by the Moors, particularly the Almoravid dynasty. A key event in the historical narrative involves a group of crusaders driven by bad weather to the northern coast of Portugal, where they encountered King Afonso of Portugal. The king persuaded them to join the siege in exchange for loot and ransom. Aided by the crusaders, the Portuguese captured Lisbon. Driven by impulse, Raimundo goes against his better judgment and professional ethics: he inserts the word “No” near the end of the manuscript, reversing its claim that the crusaders assisted the Portuguese. This single change upends the historical narrative.

Raimundo was cognizant that the discovery of this blunder would mean dire consequences for him. After all, being a proofreader was his primary source of living. Inevitably, the error was soon discovered. However, the book has already gone to print. Summoned to his publisher’s office, he confesses and is reprimanded. However, the credibility of his past works kept him from dismissal. Instead, a new supervisor was assigned to him; he used to work under Costa, the production manager. To manage Raimundo and his fellow proofreaders, the publisher hired Dr. Maria Sara for subsequent works. Upon meeting him, she confesses her own fascination with the idea of inserting the word “no”—thereby falsifying history—and encourages him to write a book in which the crusaders did not aid in the recapture of Lisbon from the Moors.

Maria Sara’s idea initially repels Raimundo. However, the more he thought about it, the more the idea started to appeal to him. As he contemplates this, Raimundo and Maria Sara started spending more time together. Amid discussions about literature and history, their relationship deepened. Together, they speculate on how and why the crusaders might have rejected the king’s appeal. As he works on the project, Silva is surprised by the implications of the events he envisioned. Raimundo provides a more humane portrait of the Moors and explores the motivations of the besiegers. Two prominent narrative arcs emerge: one in the twentieth century, where Silva works on his manuscript; the other in the twelfth century, where the siege comes alive under Saramago’s masterful orchestration.

…a proof-reader takes his work seriously, he does not play games or tricks, he respects what has been established in grammars and reference books, he is guided by the rules and makes no attempt to modify them, he obeys an ethical code which is unwritten but sacrosanct, he must respect tradition, observe the conventions, and suppress his private inclinations.

José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

At its heart, The History of the Siege of Lisbon is an extensive meditation on history. Raimundo’s impulsive act allows Saramago to contemplate the authenticity of historical narrative and the ways historical writing can distort truth. As the adage goes, history is written by the victors. In the case of the crusaders and the Portuguese king, they directed how the story would be recorded. Despite evidence suggesting alternative possibilities, challenging accepted versions of history is difficult. The novel confronts the pitfalls of historiography and the methods by which we arrive at historical understandings. It underscores our reliance on incomplete or unreliable evidence, and the biases that shape the histories we accept as fact. What we believe to be historical truth may differ significantly from what actually occurred. The truth, as the saying goes, is often stranger than fiction.

This is Raimundo’s realization as he works on providing an alternative history to a widely accepted interpretation of historical events. Gazing at the cityscape stretching down from his apartment window, he reimagines the twelfth-century city and makes observations that raise seminal questions about how the siege unfolded from the perspectives of both the besieged and ordinary soldiers. In doing so, he challenges a fundamental national narrative—one associated with national pride and religious zeal. As he digs deeper, Raimundo uncovers stories of miraculous events that strain credulity yet remain widely accepted. Myths, legends, and lore often intertwine with historical narratives. These elements shape how historical events are interpreted in the present.

The History of the Siege of Lisbon thus poses important questions: What constitutes history? Who decides what is worth documenting and how it should be recorded? By referencing a factual historical narrative, Saramago confronts the nature of truth and memory. As the story progresses, Saramago—through Raimundo—prods readers to question the reliability of historical accounts and the ways they are presented. The narrative’s fluidity becomes a tool for self-exploration, pushing the boundaries of history and imagination. Another vital question emerges: What if history unfolded differently? The novel becomes a lush discourse on the subjectivity of truth, history, memory, fiction, and authorship. Equally compelling are the detailed descriptions of the mechanics and brutality of siege warfare.

The novel’s preoccupation is not with facts themselves but with their nature. In the story, facts are merely representations. Numerous alternative narrative arcs emerge, all plausible because they lead to the same conclusion. By offering a lens through which to examine different possibilities, Saramago invites readers to understand the characters and their circumstances with nuance rather than through the static lens of linear narrative. The story is meant to be read with dynamic tensions and ever-shifting possibilities. It is a brilliant, multilayered novel. Its style and structure add further complexity. In true Saramago fashion, it contains paragraph-long but fluid sentences, often devoid of punctuation. These hallmarks of his prose can pose a challenge, particularly for literary purists.

Certain authors, perhaps out of conviction or an attitude of mind not much given to patient investigation, hate having to acknowledge that the relationship between what we call cause and what we subsequently describe as the effect is not always linear and explicit. They allege, and with some justification, that ever since the world began, although we may have no way of knowing when it began, there has never been an effect without a cause, and every cause, whether because pre-ordained or by some simple mechanism, has brought about and will go on bringing about some effect or other, which, let it be said, is produced instantly, although the transition from cause to effect may have escaped the observer or only come to be more or less reconstituted much later.

José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

Yet these same facets make Saramago’s prose distinct and, in the case of The History of the Siege of Lisbon, underscore the fluidity of memory and history. Beyond his examination of time and history, Saramago brings Lisbon vividly to life. His evocative prose captures the old quarters and topography of the city, allowing readers to walk and experience them. His writing brings color to Lisbon’s vistas while shading the euphoria inspired by love. In this novel, nostalgia converges with the past, capturing the universality of human experience across time—its beauty and its sadness. By transporting readers to the past, Saramago also subtly highlights religious conflicts while focusing on ordinary combatants rather than celebrated heroes. Often muted by history, Saramago gives these people voices, revealing their vulnerability and the harshness of their lives.

Adding further texture is the romance between Raimundo and Maria Sara. Her encouragement of Raimundo’s subversiveness becomes a catalyst for the novel’s exploration of major themes. Their love story is grounded in shared intellectual and historical interests. Meanwhile, as Lisbon is under siege, another love story blossoms: that of Mogueime, an ordinary soldier, and Ouroana, the abducted concubine of a German crusader. Their budding romance becomes a meditation on human life, civilization, war, and conflict. These two love stories act as beacons of hope amid chaos. The interplay between personal and historical realms enriches the narrative. Interwoven throughout are profound reflections on fate, faith, memory, and organized religion.

History has shown that words are not only meaningful but also powerful. A slight omission or addition—even of the most innocuous word—can radically alter a sentence and a story’s meaning. Chaos can ensue, as The History of the Siege of Lisbon demonstrates. It is a multilayered novel that challenges our perception of historical events and confronts the subjective nature of history, underscoring that it is often written by the victor. The novel takes on even greater relevance today as historical narratives increasingly come under scrutiny and alternative histories proliferate. It challenges historiography and the act of writing itself. The reformulation of history underscores choice, consequence, and human connection. In contemporary times, the novel remains resonant for its reflection on proofreading—a profession poised to be transformed by the ascent and growing prevalence of artificial intelligence.

Underscoring the importance of individual agency, the novel, through the story of Raimundo and his blunder, reflects on history, fiction, memory, and the power of words. As the story progresses, Saramago’s poetic tendencies allow him to introduce a metaphor: sieges of cities are akin to sieges that must be made in the name of love. “Of course we’re at war, and it’s a war of siege, each of us besieges the other and is besieged in turn, we want to break down the other’s walls while defending our own, love means getting rid of all barriers, love is the end of all sieges.” The love stories illuminate and provide hope amid chaos. Transcending physical boundaries and time, The History of the Siege of Lisbon stands as a seminal masterpiece of the literary canon from one of literature’s most gifted storytellers.

Thanks to a clear sky, the sun was still shining over the city, already from the direction of the sea, as it went down, casting a gentle light, bestowing a luminous caress to which the windows-panes on the hillside would soon respond, first with flaring torches, then turning pale, dwindling to a tiny fragment of flickering glass, until finally extinguished as twilight begins to sift its ashes between the buildings, concealing the gables, as the noise of the city down below dies away and withdraws beneath the silence spreading from these streets to on high where Raimundo Silva lives.

José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon
Book Specs

Author: José Saramago
Translator (from Portuguese): Giovanni Pontiero
Publisher:  The Harvill Press
Publishing Date: 1996 (1989)
Number of Pages: 312
Genre: Literary

Synopsis

A humble proof-reader for a Lisbon publishing house takes it upon himself to insert a negative into the sentence of a history book, thus effectively leaving that history entirely rewritten: whatever the experts have hitherto chosen to say, the visiting crusaders did not help the King of Portugal to recapture Lisbon from the Saracens in the twelfth century. This act of gross insubordination, which might have ended Raimundo Silva’s career, has instead the unexpected result of making his superior, the fetching Maria Sara, fall in love with him, and in his middle age romance blossoms. Under her impetus the humble proof-reader rewrites the history of the siege of Lisbon in a style graphic enough to satisfy the most exigent reader of historical romances.

As in The Stone Raft, so in this new novel José Saramago challenges, and indeed teases, his readers into discarding all their preconceptions, and by a slight refocusing of the microscope, brings them to observe human relationships and motivations, past and present, in a radically different light.

About the Author

To learn more about the awardee of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, José Saramago, click here.