José Saramago’s Literary Places and Landscapes

Literary tourism implies visiting locations associated with writers, fictional settings, or events described in literature (Capecchi, 2023). As a growing segment of cultural tourism, it combines aspects of heritage tourism, creative tourism, and educational tourism. It not only allows readers to experience the environments that inspired their favourite authors, but it also contributes to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage and cultural sustainability, which depend “on renewed acts of attention, interest, remembering, preservation, transmission and discussion” (Assmann, 2019; 28). Literary tourism is, indeed, a privileged opportunity to value local culture as it offers the tourist a series of cultural elements related to literary works and/or writers that convey a sense of place and connect the individual to the universal. Literary tourism promotes, therefore, cultural awareness, respect towards different traditions while, at the same time, stimulating the local economy (Carvalho et al., 2010). As Pérez observes, “tourism allows the local to open up to the world and promote its cultural identity in a global world” (2009; 76). Thus, travelling with cultural purposes in mind has become a trend in tourist activity, and literary tourism offers a stimulating and enriching alternative to those who wish to escape mass tourism.

According to Cabral and Pereira (2021), tourism and literature have long been interconnected, with literature serving as a powerful attraction for tourists seeking to engage with places and authors they have read about. Literary tourism presents itself as an important branch of cultural tourism (Carvalho et al., 2010). The connection between the two is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to reach diverse audiences and age groups. By weaving literature into cultural experiences, destinations can offer richer and more meaningful journeys that engage both the intellect and the emotions of visitors, fostering deeper connections with place, history and identity. With Saramago, the possibilities are endless. His works transcend borders, inviting readers not only to reflect but to travel through landscapes both real and imagined. Literary tourism inspired by his legacy becomes more than a cultural activity; it’s an immersive journey into collective identity, memory and imagination.

Born in 1922, a momentous year for world literature forever associated with the publication of Western emblematic texts such as James Joyce’s Ulysses or T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, José Saramago is the sole Portuguese winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature (1998). He was born in the small village of Azinhaga, situated a hundred kilometres away from Lisbon, which was his home until 1993, when he decided to leave the Portuguese capital and move to the island of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands (Spain), as a protest against the right-wing Portuguese government’s censorship of the novel O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo (The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, 1991). The government vetoed the novel’s submission to the European Literary Prize claiming that the book was offensive to Catholics and, as there was never a public apology, only “a small private letter” (Vasconcelos & Saramago, 2010, p.79), Saramago decided to leave Portugal permanently.

Self-exiled in Lanzarote, Saramago continued to publish prolifically. He authored, in total, more than 40 texts, within different genres, which have been published worldwide, in more than 60 countries, and translated into almost 50 languages. Azinhaga, Lisbon and Lanzarote are, thus, mandatory destinations for those who appreciate literature in general and Saramago’s craft in particular. In 2007, a Foundation bearing the author’s name – Fundação José Saramago – was created in Lisbon with the aims of promoting Saramago’s literary legacy but also of disseminating contemporary literature, defending the Charter of Human Rights, and protecting the environment. As stated on its official website, the Foundation has been located at Casa dos Bicos since 2008 and it plays an important role in fostering projects of cultural merit and supporting proposals to transform society. After a visit to Casa dos Bicos, in Lisbon, literary tourists may be interested in visiting the Azinhaga Delegation, in Golegã, as well. It was initially located in an old prison, in Largo da Praça, where a statue of José Saramago, sculpted by Armando Ferreira, can also be admired, but in 2017 it moved to Largo das Divisões, to an old primary school dating from 1937 and designed by Raúl Lino. The exhibition space is divided into two sections, “José Saramago’s Cocoon” and “From Azinhaga to the World”, where visitors can find photographs, texts, personal objects and even family furniture. Additionally, visitors can admire Saramago’s first contract with Portugália Editora and the author’s complete bibliography published by Porto Editora, encompassing his 42 books. Furthermore, the Azinhaga Delegation includes a shop and a multidisciplinary space that hosts temporary exhibitions related to the Founder and the Foundation’s humanist mission.

For literature lovers, a visit to Lisbon and Azinhaga should be complemented by a visit to Lanzarote and to José Saramago House Museum. Roaming around the different rooms, including the author’s office and his amazing library, provides visitors with a sense of shared intimacy best epitomised by the example of the clocks, which are all stopped at four o’clock, the time when Saramago met Pilar del Río, the love of his life. In the volcanic sands of Lanzarote, Saramago’s garden, with its olive trees, pays, in turn, tribute to Azinhaga and the writer’s childhood. No visit to the House would be complete without the souvenirs store, where fans can buy T-shirts, book markers or bags, among many other useful items and interesting memorabilia. In addition to Fundação José Saramago, in Lisbon, the Azinhaga Delegation, in Golegã, and the House, in Lanzarote, there are many places in the Iberian Peninsula to discover while holding a Saramago’s novel close to one’s hand.

Indeed, literary tourism, which connects readers with the real-world settings of literary works, finds in Saramago’s novels a rich opportunity to explore landscapes, cities, and stories that shaped his storytelling. Two such examples are the literary tours inspired by the novels Levantado do Chão (Raised from the Ground, 1980) and Memorial do Convento (Baltasar and Blimunda, 1982). The first, Roteiro Literário Levantado do Chão, invites travellers to personalize their own tour as they discover Montemor-o-Novo, Évora and Lisbon, key places in Saramago’s Levantado do Chão, which tells the story of a Portuguese landless peasant family whose struggles unfold against the backdrop of national and international turmoil: the attempts to overthrow the Portuguese dictator Oliveira Salazar, the fight for a new political regime, or the two World Wars. As David Frier points out and the title of the book announces, the novel depicts “a metaphorical rise from the ground, which represents increasing control by ordinary people over their own lives” (2005; 47).

The second tour, Rota Memorial do Convento, is a joint initiative of the City Councils of Lisbon, Loures and Mafra and aims to foster literary tourism and promote the preservation of cultural heritage by inviting literary travellers to visit emblematic sites in Saramago’s Memorial do Convento, such as the imposing Royal building of Mafra (UNESCO World Heritage Site), whose imperious construction progresses, in the novel, side by side with the humble but immortal love story of Baltasar and Blimunda. In Memorial do Convento, as in most of his novels, Saramago creatively addresses history and its gaps by offering memorable natural, architectural and emotional landscapes and by providing a voice to all, regardless of their social status. In doing so, he celebrates local and universal memory and ensures cultural sustainability while challenging the readers’ (and the literary tourists’) own ability to interrogate the past, the present and the future.

How to cite this entry: Lemos, M. & Mesquita, S. (2025). José Saramago’s Literary Places and Landscapes. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Eds.), E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia. https://doi.org/10.34623/zdg2-hn59