Tóssan: a legacy of humour

Abstract

In the history of art – art being taken in a broad sense, likely to encompass both painting and, for example, literature – we often come across creators who, voluntarily, out of modesty or even for lack of opportunities, accepted to remain in the background, never seeking the limelight that others (critics, spectators, readers) think might have been within their reach. In this article, much more than making an indepth or critical analysis of an artist’s (unusually multifaceted) work, we would like to draw the attention to the career of someone who most certainly deserves greater knowledge (and recognition), also in the academic environment, where it is uncommon to approach an essential element of human condition to which he dedicated much of his life: humour. Tóssan was more than a humourist (in his writings and drawings) though, since he embraced other areas, such as children's literature, poetry recitation, scenic design, illustration or decoration. A very sensitive, empathetic person, Tóssan also knew how to give centre stage to those he thought deserved it, from the authors of the texts he illustrated to the tireless promotion he made of a semi-literate popular poet, António Aleixo, whose work he made known by reciting it in informal occasions as well as before academic audiences. As a poet and a short story writer (and also a storyteller), Tóssan added an innovative element of nonsense to the double entendres that have always characterized much of Portuguese humour.