Portugal can be found in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is a westernmost country of Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North East. Portugal is named after Porto the second largest city, whose Latin name was Portus Cale. One of the earliest Western literatures, developed through text and song has is Portuguese literature. In their history the literature of Portugal has been closely linked with the Spain because until the middle of the twelfth century the two countries were one nation. In 1143, the Kingdom of Portugal was recognized as an independent country. The language that developed was very musical, and the poets of the neighbouring Spain used it for they own lyric verse especially in love poems. Until 1350, the Portuguese-Galician troubadours spread their literary influence to most of the Iberian Peninsula.[87] Gil Vicente (ca. 1465 – ca. 1536), was one of the founders of both Portuguese and Spanish dramatic traditions. It is developed since the 12th century from the lyrical works of João Soares de Paiva and Paio Soares de Taveirós. They wrote mostly from Portuguese oral traditions known as “cantigas de amor e amigo” and “cantigas de escárnio e maldizer” which were sung by troubadours.
Following chroniclers such as Fernão Lopes after the 14th century, fiction has its roots in chronicles and histories with theatre following Gil Vicente, whose works was critical of the society of his time. He is the most spontaneous and natural poet of Portugal and wrote a total of forty-four plays, in Spanish, Portuguese or a mixture of the two. Gil Vicente’s autos and his methods were taken up and developed by Spanish playwrights. Classical lyrical texts include the epic poem Os Lusíadas, by adventurer and poet Luís Vaz de Camões with Virgil’s Aeneid as his main influence. The Portuguese national holiday, Portugal’s Day or Dia de Portugal, das Comunidades Portuguesas e de Camoes is celebrated on June 10 the anniversary of Cameos death, a day of national pride similar to the Independence Day celebrated in other countries. Fernando Pessoa exemplified the Modern Portuguese poetry that is rooted in neoclassic and contemporary. He used heteronyms where he wrote in different styles as if he were more than a poet. His most famous work was an adaptation of the Lusiad called The Message (A Mensagem). It discusses the Sebastianism and Portuguese prophecies that were created and prophesized during the time of Camoens. Eca de Queroz most famous work are Os Maias (The Maias), O Crime do Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) and O Primo Bazilio (Cousin Baasilio). Eca was the founder of Portuguese Naturalism. Modern Portuguese literature is represented by authors including Antero de Quental, Almeida Garrett, Camilo Pessanha, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Antonio Lobo Antunes and Miguel Torga. Following the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the Portuguese society, after several decades of repression, regained freedom of speech. Jose Saramago, the most popular and distinguished and the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for literature. He wrote the Memorial do Convento. Herberto Helder is a younger poet highly considered in Portugal.