Problematization of the Relationship between History and Literature in the Current Portuguese Historiography: Some Examples

Abstract

This article concerns the theme of the historiographical narrative, relating it with literature, since the 1980s and in the turn of the 19th to the 20th century in Portugal – a barely addressed theme. It focuses on comparative History of Historiography and provides a synthetic framing of the evolution of this area during the 20th century, considering an international perspective of Narrative History. Three specific texts, written by Fatima Bonifácio, Rui Bebiano and Luís Adão da Fonseca, will be analyzed. The article concludes that Narrative History does not harbor a single and homogeneous reality. While Maria de Fátima Bonifacio seems to strive for narrative history through the return of the old history, Rui Bebiano understands it as poetics, without sacrificing the rigor of source research. Luís Adão da Fonseca, on his turn, defends scientific history while considering that it should be combined with a literary style