A note on the phrase "sostiene Pereira"

Abstract

The refrain "sostiene Pereira" indicates the presence of a narrating voice by means of which the readers come to know the character who, in turn, comes to know himself. Most plausibly it is Pereira himself who is speaking. However he puts himself under the gaze of an Other in order to tell the story of his detachment from days long past. Tabucchi has once again invented a narrative mode which presents the quandary of a man whose actions and words were, during the Salazar dictatorship, constantly under surveillance.