"Obsessiva eternidade: o fim do mundo rural, segundo Aquilino Ribeiro"

This essay considers a partial apocalypse: the end of the rural world, an obvious sociological reality within an increasingly urbanised and globalised society. The study focuses on the Portuguese novel Quando os Lobos Uivam, written by Aquilino Ribeiro and published in 1958, considering the way in which this author portrays the before, during and after of a rural apocalypse. The text considers these three apocalyptic components: the conceptualisation of a world in perfect harmony with its natural environment; the actions of the government which leads to the destruction of this world; and the post-apocalyptic land which appears in the final pages of the novel. It is concluded that in this 1950s novel, Aquilino Ribeiro anticipated the end of his rural world, of the Beira Alta, an end which would become a concrete reality over subsequent decades.