Emilio Miranda is military by professional occupation, but nourishes various passions that accompany it throughout his life, even on a day-to-day basis, one is writing, another are historical novel, which derived into a third perpetual idyll that is Japanese culture. The book of muskets was only the pretext to talk with the author about his literary career and his eternal fascination with other worlds, other times.
What led you to write about Japan, specifically a specific time in history that was the arrival of the Portuguese in the East?
Emilio Miranda: This passion for Japan already has some years; do you remember a television series called Shogun? Of writer James Clavell already deceased and at the time I was fascinated by that world so different and all that is new. After I had the opportunity to read and reread books about Japanese culture and was always cultivated that taste. I was always looking for anything on Japan over the years; I research the literature, the culture and some poetry too. In 2000 I was reading a book that ended in a postscript that made reference to the musket, a chronicle written by a Buddhist monk who reports the arrival of the Portuguese to the east and there was a click and soon began to write the first sentences.
The text was flowing.
EM: It was evolving and I had no ambition to be a very long text. What is a fact and it happens when I was writing it, I was dominated by the words and characters and in this book was almost instantaneous, they were the ones who determined the course of history and usually the action unfolds in unexpected ways.
There is a dichotomy that sets the tone of the narrative, i.e. what the Portuguese think about the Japanese and vice versa, this idea arise from the beginning?
MS: No, initially I was writing page after page that was gaining a certain way. I normally do not do layouts; I like to write freely and be amazed with the writing, but somehow wanted it to be a secular story, told in the form of chronic, because I wanted to go back in time, through the eyes of John Boavida. Then later I decided to give the two views, because as a rule, we always analyze the others but we never put ourselves in their place looking at us and that's what I did. However there is a discovery that is mutual, both by the Portuguese and the Japanese.
In the book Japanese describe the Portuguese as dirty savages, you did some research about this subject?
AT: I did, the Western world at that time was very dirty. In fact, going back 50 years, and I lived in a village, this reality was not far from the middle ages. 500 years ago people had poor hygiene, in the cities you had to be careful because people hurled debris into the street, they did not take baths for shame of their own body, were limited in this regard by the church because the priests proclaim the guilt in the body itself, in the nudity and the Japanese already at that same time cultivated the opposite. What was so fascinating.
In fact you describe in detail the daily life of Japanese culture, the way they cook, how they did the hygiene, how they did the furnishing of the house, which led me to think that you also made a deep research about the Japanese.
MS: Yes, indeed, what I observe in the book of the muskets and discover due to the passion I had for the Japanese is that I already knew a lot about them not knowing, or had acquired much knowledge about this other side, but I also research on the behavior, cultural expressions and was confirmed at the same time all that I knew. The Japanese were essentially Buddhist or Shinto, now , the meat almost was not part of their diet that was mostly of fish and vegetables, everything was cooked simply and they were frugal eaters. They are a people who almost have daily baths, massages, were cleaned and perfumed and I know that what we eat has a direct relationship with our body odor. At that time, the Portuguese were eating a lot of fats and fried foods and did so with hands, which they never washed and then dried in it on clothes or shorts, so the smell accompanied them.
Interestingly I also wondered if you had ever visited Japan?
MS: No, but there's a moment in the book, there is an approach, an event of John Boavida life in which he believes in rebirth, if I was not already soon I'll be Japanese. Sometimes we have so many ties with certain realities, that for those who believe, we are always running, or constantly been reborn. But, I would like to go there.
Your writing goes beyond the prose, you wrote short stories and poetry, and however, you said that your favorite type of writing is the historical novel, why?
EM: Looking back we wondered about certain things and some time ago, when I wrote keep saying to myself that I would like to write a historical novel, but did not think I had the ability to investigate, sit and read a lot on a particular subject, thought it was so inconstant and so nervous I was unable to start the whole process. Interestingly, this capability has been developed and proved in "Princess of the Corgo" which was my first historical novel I wrote for twenty-two years. I may have found a very particular form of investigation, other authors before writing on a subject read a lot, I do not, I'm investigating as I write and just to see if what I'm describing is not an affront to the story, but also confess one thing, I have no ambition to write historical novels strictly faithful to the era. I try to create an aura of wonder about a fact or a historical moment and that gives me a certain freedom in terms of writing. Since very young I have a fascination with the Middle Ages, always had that taste that I gain precisely in the village of Lordelo, which has a medieval tower nearby and I remember to have seen medieval parades and so I always had a fascination with historical romance, thinking I would never be a writer in this genre, while writing other works, but I'm fascinated by this type of literature.
Are you currently preparing another book?
AT: I have written things like romances, short stories and poetry that are more than a book. I'm editing a text that I had written some time ago, I have a historical novel bulkier than the book of the muskets, but not as much as the princess of Corgo, which is located at 1000 AC that is precisely the point at which is founded the Portucale County and then we have the first crusades. The action takes place in an imaginary convent situated between Chaves and Boticas, there are some characters that have something of magical and fantastic, because I like to work this way. I have been developing a story for a publisher for whom I've already written before. I have two adult historical novels but also wrote juvenile literature. I stopped a book about Vila Nova da Barquinha that now I intend to resume in January, is a novel located in the nineteenth century, has to do with the construction of the first railway bridge over the Tagus and somehow that meant the coming of the train to the river trade. Incidentally, this location is called Barquinha because there was a harbor that was the connection between the interior of Portugal and Lisbon.
De facto relata em pormenor o quotidiano da cultura japonesa, a forma como cozinhavam, como faziam a sua higiene, como era feita a disposição da mobília da casa, o que me levou a pensar que também fez uma pesquisa profunda sobre os japoneses.
EM: Sim, de facto, o que constato com o livro dos mosquetes e descubro por causa daquela paixão que tinha pelos japoneses é que já sabia muita coisa quase sem saber, ou seja, havia muitos conhecimentos adquiridos sobre esse outro lado, mas fiz também pesquisa sobre os comportamentos, as expressões culturais e fui confirmar ao mesmo tempo tudo o que já sabia. Os japoneses como eram essencialmente budistas ou xintoístas, para já a carne quase não fazia parte da sua alimentação que era essencialmente de peixe e verduras, tudo era cozinhado de forma simples e eram muito frugais a comer. São um povo que cultivava quase o banho diário, a massagem, eram limpos e perfumados e sabem que aquilo que comemos tem uma relação directa com o nosso odor corporal. Nessa época, os portugueses comiam muitas gorduras e fritos e faziam-no com as mãos que depois não lavavam e secavam na roupa ou nos calções, portanto esse cheiro andava com eles.
Curiosamente também me questionei se alguma vez tinha visitado o Japão?
EM: Não, mas há ali um momento no livro, há uma abordagem, no João Boavida na eventualidade de se acreditar no renascimento, se eu ainda não fui japonês virei a ser. Por vezes, temos tantos laços com certas realidades, isto para quem acreditar, estamos a correr sempre, ou renascemos constantemente. Mas, gostaria de lá ir.
Escreve para além de prosa, contos e poesia, no entanto, referiu que o seu tipo de escrita preferido é o romance histórico, porquê?
EM: Olhando para atrás questionámo-nos sobre certas coisas e eu há uns tempos atrás, quando já escrevia dizia-me a mim mesmo, que gostava de escrever um romance histórico, mas achava que não tinha a capacidade para investigar, sentar e ler muito sobre um determinado assunto, achava que era tão inconstante e tão nervoso que era incapaz de encetar todo esse processo. Curiosamente, essa capacidade foi-se desenvolvendo e revelou-se na "princesa do Corgo", que foi o meu primeiro romance histórico, que escrevi durante vinte e dois anos. Eu talvez tenha encontrado uma forma muito particular de investigar, outros autores antes de escreverem sobre um tema leem muito, eu não, vou investigando à medida que vou escrevendo e só para verificar se o que estou a descrever não é um atentado a história, mas também confesso uma coisa, não tenho a ambição propriamente escrever romances históricos demasiados fiéis a uma época. Tento criar uma aura do maravilhoso em torno de um facto, ou de um momento histórico e isso dá-me uma certa liberdade em termos de escrita. Desde muito novo que tenho um fascínio pela idade média, sempre foi um gosto que se revelou precisamente nessa aldeia, em Lordelo, que tem uma torre medieval perto e lembro-me de ter vistos desfiles medievais na altura e por isso tive sempre um fascínio pelo romance histórico, achando eu que nunca seria um escritor neste género, embora tendo outros trabalhos, sinto um fascínio por este tipo de literatura.
Neste momento esta a preparar um outro livro?
EM: Eu tenho coisas escritas como romance, contos e poesia que dariam para mais do que um livro. Eu vou editando textos que já tinha escrito há algum tempo, tenho um romance histórico mais volumoso que o livro dos mosquetes, mas não tanto como a princesa do Corgo, que se situa pelo ano 1000 d.C. que é precisamente a altura em que se funda o condado Portucalense e depois tem inicio as primeiras cruzadas. A acção decorre num convento imaginário situado entre Chaves e Boticas, há algumas personagens que tem alguma coisa de mágico e de fantástico, porque gosto de trabalhar de essa forma. Tenho estado a desenvolver um conto para uma editora para quem eu já escrevi. Para adultos tenho dois romances históricos, mas também escrevi literatura juvenil. Tenho parado um livro sobre Vila Nova da Barquinha que pretendo reatar agora em Janeiro, é um romance localizado no século XIX, tem a ver com a construção da primeira ponte ferroviária sobre o Tejo e de certa forma o que significou a vinda do comboio para o comércio fluvial. Aliás, esta localidade chama-se Barquinha, porque havia um porto que fazia a ligação entre o interior de Portugal e a cidade de Lisboa.
