Pyrostories: New Historical Insights into Portuguese Burning Landscapes

Abstract

This paper examines Portuguese literary texts in which fire is explicitly included in the narrative. These texts include descriptions of various occurrences and uses of fire and their intertwined social and ecological effects. They shed light on the origins, actors, practices, and impacts of fire, and they reveal past perceptions of fire, namely the role fire played in social processes and in the making of landscapes. It becomes evident that in literary texts, fire is not merely a physical element but also a powerful symbolic force of life, death, and transformation. Furthermore, the literary landscapes of different regions describe fire in distinct ways, reflecting particular geographical, social, and political contexts.