By means of an analysis of the writings of the Orfeu generation, the article shows the strong relation, established in the 1880s, between the modernization of Portuguese literary standards and the rise of nationalism, more specifically concerning the Republican movement in Portugal. It then summarizes and analyzes the political connotations of the modernist movement that followed the promulgation of the republican regime in 1910. It closes by approaching the growing traditionalism of the authoritarian regime in Portugal and the estrangement of the majority of avant-garde writers.
Literary modernism; Nationalism; Republican movement; Political authoritarianism