Paper (un)truths in the Portuguese multimodal novel of the 21st century: the case of the semi-heteronymous Acácio Nobre's archive

In the face of the premonitions that pointed to its obsolescence and lethal decline due to the hegemonic digital paradigm, the (hyper)contemporary novel has demonstrated a strong capacity for reinvention and rejuvenation, exploring, for example, the materiality and visuality of the printed page. This occurs in the multimodal novel, the narrative subgenre that we intend to characterize. We highlight its strong archival propensity and adduce the reasons that drive the multimodal narrator to integrate and semantically explore resources other than just words (e.g., images, documents, objects, etc.). Starting from this theoretical section, our main objective is to analyze the portuguese novel A Coleção Privada de Acácio Nobre (2016), by Patrícia Portela. This multimodal work presents the "spolio" of Acácio Nobre, an important artist (1869-1974), but shrouded in an aura of silence and, therefore, practically unknown to all. In order to demonstrate his real existence, various types of documentary evidence (photographs, manuscripts, drawings, works of art, and others) are inserted. It is our intention to analyze the various strategies of veridiction and fictionalization deployed by the narrator in the construction of the Acacian figure. In addition, we also consider the possibility of Acácio Nobre (along with Bernardo Soares, his friend) being a semi-heteronym.