Publisher's Synopsis
A study of the feminine principle and its identification with language in the work of the contemporary Portuguese poet Herberto Helder. This study takes as its central theme the identification of woman and language, poem or word in the poetry of Herberto Helder. It is above all as a mediator - between male and female, conscious and unconscious, flesh and spirit, creator and creation - that Helder's special genius is demonstrated.JULIET PERKINS is Lecturer in Portuguese at King's College, University of London.