Under the sign of criticism

Despite its somewhat short lifespan, Princípio remains a central reference for the study of the Renascença Portuguesa movement and the turbulent historical context that characterized the late 1920s. The magazine’s four issues circulated between May and July 1930, and, as was common among such periodicals, the inaugural instalment featured an unsigned programme manifesto, in which the publication was presented as the result of a motivated group’s decision to pursue action in the cultural and political spheres.

With regard to culture, it was stated that the magazine's emphasis would be less on speculative and doctrinal articles than on criticism, understood as the ability to ‘accurately and appropriately distinguish and judge’. In the acerbic evaluation of the authors, the country’s cultural production was devoid of such a disposition, and the importance attributed to criticism was consequently justified, including its elevation to the ‘fundamental attitude among all others in the domain of Portuguese culture’.

In the arena of politics, on the other hand, the magazine was among the defenders of democracy, which was considered the ‘only viable political method in the modern world’, and of a republican orientation, as long as it was anchored on a ‘sincere effort toward lively and dynamic political thought’, never losing sight of ‘the aspirations of all men for economic, cultural and spiritual emancipation’. In other words, it advocated a committed democratic regime, attentive to social issues.

These initial statements help clarify the meaning of the magazine's title, a choice that is never accidental, and especially so in the case of magazines of ideas. This was a publication of culture and politics, as explained in the subtitle, and it was published under the auspices of the Renascença Portuguesa, a movement that brought together some of the most important intellectuals committed to reflection on the country’s future, since the 1910s. Thus, it seems unlikely that the magazine’s directors would see themselves as initiators, given their connection with an active group that continued to play a significant role in the Portuguese scenario. Princípio – in the singular form, it should be noted – perhaps had the ambition to shed light on the primordial cause, the precept that should guide the practice and action of those engaged in finding solutions to the challenges facing the nation, in a context marked by public confrontation of different projects and proposals. Being able to make the right choices meant maintaining a critical and ever-vigilant attitude, so as to support or reject proposals for what was then an open and uncertain future.

The corollary of this stance was the condemnation of violence and extremism of any kind, whether right or left-wing, and the defence of persuasion and elucidation. The programme manifesto insisted on the search for justice and truth, always based on arguments, that is, it relied on reason rather than political passions, hence the intention to persuade and always act in an ‘understanding and constructive’ fashion. Therefore, the transformative and pedagogical capacity of the written word, wielded as a weapon capable of illuminating and revealing solutions to serious national problems, was explicitly sustained. To dissipate any remaining doubts, Princípio was declared universalistic, which implied embracing cosmopolitanism, in opposition to those who rallied around nationalist ideals – a debate that marked the early days of the Renascença Portuguesa.

To understand the origin of the magazine, it is important to remember the importance of the Faculdade de Letras of the University of Porto, one of Leonardo Coimbra’s initiatives that did not survive the Estado Novo regime. Coimbra had a significant influence on his disciples, including Álvaro Ribeiro and Adolfo Casais Monteiro, two of Princípio’s directors, at the time both in their early twenties, as well as on Manuel Maia Pinto, the third founder of the periodical, who was slightly older.

It should be noted that while Princípio was in print the Renascença Portuguesa had no other periodical, since the penultimate issue of the fourth series of A Águia (July to October 1929), the movement’s main organ, had been seized at the printer. The following issue, dated November-December 1930, marked the end of the series. Despite these events, in the first and last issues of Princípio readers were urged to “read A Águia magazine”, an indication that sales were expected to resume soon, something that failed to materialize.

Interestingly, in A Águia’s last issue of 1930 we find a note announcing Princípio’s debut should come ‘soon’, with details on the contents of the inaugural issue – this at a time when the magazine had already ceased publication, since its last issue came out in July of that year. This illustrates the time gap that sometimes existed between an issue’s preparation and its actual printing and distribution. In this particular case, the ad would have served its purpose only if it had been published before May 15, 1930.

Two other magazines, both in full swing at the time, were evoked in Princípio’s programme manifesto, because of their shared affinities and objectives: Seara Nova, a Lisbon-based publication that even then stood out as a bulwark in the defence of democratic ideals, and Presença, published in Coimbra and considered a landmark of the second phase of Portuguese modernism. Two of its founders, José Régio and João Gaspar Simões, did not shy away from collaborating with the young men who gathered around Princípio.

Tania Regina de Luca