Anatomy of
Saudade
Master Thesis Project
University Aveiro 2019

"Anatomy of Saudade. A Design Approach to Assess a Phenomenon of Portuguese Culture" (Anatomia do Design. Um Contributo do Design para a Compreensão de um Mito Português) is a holistic approach and a visual metaphor that aims to enable the understanding of the complex concept Saudade. It tries to help considering the importance of feelings in people's cultural life and, simultaneously, exploring the creative dimensions of design-research approaches and how they can contribute to the perception of various topics by creating new perspectives and usable knowledge.

Saudade
is a unique Portuguese word for a feeling which has frequently been described as untranslatable and exclusive of Portuguese culture. It is often described as Longing, Yearning, Homesickness, Melancholy and Nostalgia among others. Although Saudade includes some of their aspects related to time/space and life itself, it embodies additionally meanings that are linked to the cultural history and geographic conditions of Portugal. Saudade manifests itself in countless literary, musical and artistic works and achieved almost mythical meaning and became a business strategy for various brands. Despite all its literary and visual reflections, just a few works such as philosophical and educational books try to communicate its concept but keep it as an inexplicable Myth. 

As a Portuguese-born and Germany-raised child, Saudade is an essential part of my “hybrid” cultural identity: A constant feeling of incompleteness and strong desire for union of all places and time. Its importance in my autobiographical experience and its tribute, as Portugal’s emotional heritage, led me to its investigation.
My research focus on the question of how to develop a visual representation of Saudade. The design-based research offered a broad data collection of the its concept through literature review, image-based methodologies, quantitative and qualitative survey, personal observations, interpretative and metaphoric methodology as design practice.


DRM: Designbased-Research; Concept; Illustration; Iconography; Editorial Design; Production & Portuguese Binding

Conducted by Prof. Rui Costa (University Aveiro)



METAPHOR 

“The circle is an "infinite line, [which] symbolises time and infinitude and [...] refers to unity, the absolute and perfection" (Herder Lexicon, 1978). Its basic geometric shape symbolizes essential elements of Saudade and bodies the metaphorical basis of this concept as key to understanding. The  circle/sphere represents the body of Saudade, composed of several layers to symbolize its different elements.

CIRCLE




SPHERE
Anatomical Plane of Saudade

Anatomical section
of the Body Saudade




MAP 
Complete Anatomical
Plane of Saudade







 
GRID SYSTEM

Dalila Pereira da Costa (1976, p. 366) writes: "(...) where saudade acts, is in time [...] where the progression will not be linear but circular, in both dimensions of time and space.” 
Based on this theory of spatial limitation of space/time of Saudade, was created a visual grid system to visualize different elements/types in an decipherable way.






ELEMENTS
Examples





TYPES
Examples





EVOLUTION
NEEDS–AGES–HERITAGE






PROCESS
OTHER FEELINGS
COMPARISON I
Parameters










COMPARISON II
Elements




BOOK


(1) Cover: Creation of the body of Saudade

The book is divided into three parts
(I) The first part maps the The Body of Saudade, symbolized by a visual metaphor of a circle that makes part of a visual system that summarizes and organizes all elements, that are involved in the evolution of the word/feeling such as historical events, geographical and meteorological conditions and the appearance and evolution of the wordd.
(II) The second part represents Other Bodies of similiar feelings. The visual grid system and another alternative visual system which is based on various parameters offer a visual comparison of those feelings.
(III) The third part demonstrates how the Saudade emerges In the Body and how the it affects the subject (person). It illustrates different types of Saudade (from normal to pathological types), examples of things that triggers the feeling, of the objects of the Saudade and what people do when they feel Saudade.

















PORTUGUESE
BINDING







BOOK
FLICK TROUGH