Variante

Variante was a Portuguese literary and cultural review published in Lisbon during the early 1940s. Its name, derived from the Portuguese words associated with variation and difference, reflected an editorial orientation that favored experimentation, eclecticism, and a deliberately nonconformist cultural outlook. The review was issued by Editorial Inquérito and was directed and edited by António Pedro, an artist and writer associated with Portuguese modernist and surrealist circles. The publication appeared during a period in which Portuguese literary culture was negotiating the constraints of the Estado Novo with competing impulses toward modernism, international exchange, and avant-garde expression. Variante presented itself less as a conventional literary periodical than as an artistically constructed review. Its tone was poetic and eclectic, with an interest in fantasy, unconventional taste, formal experimentation, and the relationship between literature and the visual arts. The review's design and editorial conception have been linked to the modernizing example of José Pacheko's Contemporânea, another influential Portuguese cultural publication. António Pedro's role was central to the review. He shaped its editorial program and brought together contributions from writers, artists, and intellectuals. Contributors associated with Variante included Vitorino Nemésio, Adolfo Casais Monteiro, Diogo de Macedo, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, José Régio, Manuel Mendes, and Delfim Santos. The range of contributors indicates that the review occupied a crossroads between literary criticism, poetry, visual culture, and broader intellectual debate rather than serving a narrowly defined genre. The publication's run was brief. The available reference describes issues appearing in spring 1942 and winter 1943, while also describing a sequence of announced or thematic editorial orientations—nonconformism, fantasy, bad taste, strength and form, and love. The precise relationship between these themes and the numbered issues is not fully clear from the available material. In any case, Variante was discontinued before its planned cultural program could be fully developed. Economic difficulties and insufficient cooperation are identified as important reasons for the interruption. António Pedro later sought to revive the project in 1948 as an International Surrealist Review. The proposed venture was to involve figures including André Breton, V. Brauner, N. Celas, and E. L. T. Mesens, but editorial and organizational difficulties prevented the project from being realized. Variante therefore survives primarily as a historically important, short-lived Portuguese review associated with António Pedro's efforts to create a modern, internationally oriented platform for literary and artistic exchange.

Variante was established in Lisbon in 1942 as a literary and cultural review issued by Editorial Inquérito. António Pedro directed and edited the publication, giving it an eclectic but pointedly poetic character. Its editorial identity was connected to Portuguese modernism and to the broader cultural activity of Pedro, whose work crossed literary, artistic, and surrealist fields. The review's program emphasized difference from conventional literary publishing. Its announced themes included nonconformism and fantasy, followed by ideas associated with bad taste, strength and form, and love. These concepts suggest a publication interested in challenging established aesthetic hierarchies and combining literary writing with visual and conceptual experimentation. The review has been compared in spirit and modernizing ambition with Contemporânea, the earlier cultural review associated with José Pacheko. Variante attracted contributions from a number of Portuguese writers, artists, and intellectuals. Names connected with the review include Vitorino Nemésio, Adolfo Casais Monteiro, Diogo de Macedo, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, José Régio, Manuel Mendes, and Delfim Santos. Their participation placed the periodical within a broad cultural network rather than limiting it to one literary movement or discipline. The publication had a short run. Reference material identifies a spring 1942 issue and a winter 1943 issue, while also recording a series of thematic orientations associated with the project. The available account does not fully establish whether all of those orientations corresponded to separately published issues, so the exact issue count and sequence require confirmation from archival holdings. The review was eventually interrupted because of economic problems and a lack of the cooperation needed to sustain its intended program. In 1948, António Pedro attempted to resume the project under the concept of an International Surrealist Review. The proposed editorial group included Pedro, André Breton, V. Brauner, N. Celas, and E. L. T. Mesens. The proposed continuation did not materialize because of editorial and organizational difficulties. Variante is consequently remembered as a brief but significant experiment in Portuguese modernist and surrealist-oriented publishing, as well as an example of António Pedro's effort to connect local cultural production with wider international currents.

• 1948

  Proposed international surrealist continuation

  [1]Variante (review)en.wikipedia.org

  António Pedro sought to revive the project as an International Surrealist Review, but editorial difficulties prevented the proposal from being completed.

• 1943

  Winter issue and interruption

  [1]Variante (review)en.wikipedia.org

  The review's winter 1943 issue appeared before publication was interrupted amid economic difficulties and insufficient support for its planned program.

• 1942

  First publication

  [1]Variante (review)en.wikipedia.org

  Variante began publication in Lisbon under the direction and editorship of António Pedro, with Editorial Inquérito as its publisher.

• 1942

  Spring issue

  [1]Variante (review)en.wikipedia.org

  A spring 1942 issue was published as part of the review's short initial run.

An experimental Portuguese literary and cultural review combining poetry, criticism, visual culture, and nonconformist modernist ideas.

• Literary and cultural periodical · 1942

  Variante review issues

  The core offering was the printed review itself. Variante combined literary writing, criticism, artistic material, and culturally oriented essays in an experimental editorial format. Its program was associated with nonconformism, fantasy, unconventional taste, formal inquiry, and love. The known run includes a spring 1942 issue and a winter 1943 issue, although the precise relationship between the documented issues and the review's announced thematic sequence requires archival confirmation.

1. 1Variante (review)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Variante, Art Library, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundationgulbenkian.pt