Make a Brazilian as proud as a peacock and ask for the meaning of saudade. The Brazilian's chest will rise like the waters around New Orleans did, yes, that high, and you will hear there is no word for saudade in any language in the world.
Maybe so. Longing and yearning are verb-derived and don't quite express the variety of meanings of saudade. The French "manquer" conveys the idea of something lacking. The usage is Tu me manques or "You lack (in) me.
I find the German word Sehnsucht the closest one to saudade. Sehnsucht is feminine, as saudade is. Sehnsucht means longing and also a craving for something as in the title of Fassbinder's film about the drug addiction of Veronica Voss.
Banzo, the Yoruba word that expressed the disease that killed even the healthiest of slaves in Brazil is a good word, too, albeit a sad one. Banzo killed the slaves who yearned to be back in Africa and couldn't adapt to their new environment.
Where does saudade stand in the midst of all of these words?
Eu tenho saudade de você means I miss you. Literally, I have saudade for you.
Esse céu me dá uma saudade do Brasil... This sky makes me miss Brazil. LIterally, This sky gives me a saudade for Brazil.
Estou louco de saudade de você. I am crazy with saudade for you.
The list of uses of saudade is never ending. I hope you have enjoyed the ride.
Right now I am dying of saudade for Ipanema.
1 comment:
Saudade, now that you know it, you will recognize it in gazillions of bossa-nova songs, such as Chega de Saudade with João Gilberto.
It is pronouced sah-oo-DAH-dji.
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