Lusophone BLOG TAKEOVER #8

Our final takeover is dedicated to Brazilian poets, many of whom are also classicists! We will share some English translations of their Brazilian poetry and include some excerpts from interviews. Along the way we also supply some videos and extra resources so people can find out more about these poets and their work.

1. Laís Corrêa de Araújo (1928-2006) and Affonso Ávila (1928-2012)

Let’s begin with two great contemporary Brazilian poets: Laís Corrêa de Araújo (1928-2006) and Affonso Ávila (1928-2012), wife and husband, both from Minas Gerais.

Our aim in this blog was to present our readers with poems translated in the Samuel Beckett style, the bilingual poet who writes for two worlds. But unfortunately this was no longer possible in the case of Laís and Affonso. As luck would have it, though, their daughter, Myriam Ávila, a full professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, has translated their poems for us into English. And this is why we present an entire family of literati and highlight classical reception through translation.

First of all, Myriam, we appreciate your cooperation. You will inaugurate our poets and classicists’ section. But before presenting the poems you have selected, tell us: How did you translate your parents into English?

How I translated my parents’ poems… Knowing how rhythm and word play was important to them, I tried to recreate both the feeling and the sound movement, which unite to convey the poems unique atmosphere. I have been translating poetry for some decades now and lately got an award from the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library) for a book of translations.

Myriam Ávila

RURAL Laís Corrêa de Araújo	RURAL   Laís Corrêa de Araújo
A mim, Ceres, que sou	To me, Ceres, who am
carne ou terra, fendida	flesh or earth, cracked
em odor de alga sem onda,	in odor of seaweed without wave,
perdida,	lost,
a mim, na senda do ventre,	To me,
que reina sobre esta voz,	in the path of the womb
a mim. Ceres, regato	that reigns over this voice
sem foz,	to me, Ceres, stream without
	a mouth,
a mim, umbral de colheita,	To me, harvest’s threshold
a que só falta a semente,	lacking only the seed,
vem trazer a boca amante	come and bring the lover’s
e quente,	hot mouth
a rede em que eu, peixe	the net in which I – fish –
morra em tela de alegria,	may die on a screen of joy
renascendo em cardume	to be reborn in another day’s
de outro dia,	shoal
vem. Ceres, promissora	come, Ceres, propitious
canção de ovelha, balido	sheep’s song, love-bleating,
do amor, polpa de um sonho	pulp from a forgotten
esquecido,	dream
a mim, deusa, fecunda	to me, goddess, fecund
como aurora de mel.	as a honey dawn.
Que a teu governo sempre	Who always faithful to your rule
serei fiel.	remain

guerra púnica Affonso Ávila o  que     une desune uni      duni         une trena quatrena   pune et       alii       desune caelum    caeli    une terra terrae        pune mare maris    desune ab imo pectore   une ab     absurdo    pune ab    irato       desune olho   no  olho    une olho   por olho  pune olho olhado   desune abre as    pernas  une sperneandi     desune pune   desune     une une  desune      pune pune     une   desune alme   alma    imune coração            alune cristo   sua      túnica a     vitória       única no  víspora   impune do une           desune desta pugna   púnica   no outdoor         delenda carthago

punic war Affonso Ávila what unites disunites uni duo unites tri- quadr- punishes et alii disunites caelum caeli unites terra terrae punishes mare maris disunites ab imo pectore unites ab absurdo punishes ab irato disunites eye in eye unites an eye for an eye punishes an eyeing eye disunites open legs unite sperniandi disunites punishes disunites unites unites disunites punishes punishes unites disunites solely soul immune heart art tune christ his tunic victory unique in vice unpunished unites then disunites in this punic pugna   on the billboard        delenda carthago

Laís Corrêa de Araújo is featured in this video here. Her biography is also the subject of this video of Constância Lima Duarte, here.

Affonso Ávila: A rich dossier on Avila’s political role and literary work can be read at http://periodicos.pucminas.br/index.php/scripta/issue/view/641 .

See also Ávila in video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZdzxvXiws4

Listen to Ávila’s poems: https://ufmg.br/comunicacao/noticias/medalha-reitor-mendes-pimentel-conheca-os-homenageados

And then …

2. Guilherme Gontijo Flores

Guilherme Gontijo Flores (Brasília, 1984) is a poet, translator and teacher at the Federal University of Paraná (http://lattes.cnpq.br/4855578018589904). He has published the poems brasa enganosa  (deceptive ember, 2013), Tróiades – remix for the next millennium (2014, www.troiades.com.br/2015), l’azur Blasé, or essay of failure on humor (2016), Naharia (2017) and carvão : capim  (coal: grass, 2017, Portugal / 2018, Brazil), as well as the novel História de Joia (Jewel Story, 2019). As a translator, he spelled out Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy (4 vols. 2011-2013), Elegias de Sexto Propércio (Sextus Propertius’ Elegies, 2014), Safo: fragmentos completos (Sappho: complete fragments, 2017) and Epigramas de Calímaco (Callimachus’ epigrams, 2019). He is the author of two essay books, A mulher ventriloquada: o limite da linguagem em Arquíloco (The ventriloqued woman: the limit of language in Archilocus, 2018) and Algo infiel: corpo performance tradução (Something unfaithful: body performance translation, 2017), written in partnership with Rodrigo Gonçalves and photos by Rafael Dabul. He is co-editor of the blog-review escamandro: poesia tradução crítica (Scamander: poetry translation critics, www.escamandro.wordpress.com) and member of the band Pecora Loca, dedicated to performance translation.

 

Outro mendigo junto à porta   Entra de esgueira, a cara torta entrega o efeito do disfarce; ele retorna, ainda bruto, ainda incapaz do face a face, em frente ao tempo que desperta. Sabe: não foram dias fáceis. Sei: ele sempre chega e parte de novo, pois assim desfaz-se este elo que refaço em porte firme. Moedas pra Odisseu são tudo — dou-as e pretendo a pobre ficção, eu consinto num jogo longo que se estende, Penélope perfeita em seus recintos: o nome de Odisseu sou eu.

Another beggar at the door   Sneakily he comes, the crooked face betrays the effect of disguise; and he returns, still raw and false, still incapable of eye to eye before such an awakening pause. He knows: it’s not an easy day. I know: he comes and goes all ways again, and then I cannot tie this link that I remake in size so firm. Coins for Odysseus be everything — I give and pretend such a poor fiction, I accept a long game that stretches unbent, Penelope perfect in bed. You know: Odysseus’s name is me.

3. Raimundo Carvalho

Raimundo Carvalho (Pirapora/MG, 1958), a professor of Latin language and literature at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (http://lattes.cnpq.br/8131553979688267), has translated Virgil’s Bucolics (Crisálida/2005) and is translating Ovid’s Metamorphoses. He has published several books of poems. As a researcher, he dedicates himself to think a poetics of translation and to train new poetry translators. He organized, along with other poet-translators, the anthology of Latin homoerotic poetry, Por que calar nossos amores (Why shut up our loves, Autêntica/2017). The poem “Requiescat Ivan” belongs to his most recent book, Língua Impura (Impure language, Sangre Editorial/ 2019).

Requiescat Ivan   Onde você aprendeu a dançar no abismo?   Na pirambeira em que se equilibra algum templo grego, acaso você ouviu algum recado de deus? Que deus?   Um vento violento arrastou o seu barco pra bem longe, mas ainda posso vê-lo veloz em alto mar.   Talvez amanhã você chegue a Delfos ou ubi Troia fuit.   Você, não! Sua sombra, amigo.

Requiescat Ivan   Where did you learn dancing in the abyss?   On the Cliff where some Greek temple is balanced, did you hear any message from god? What god?   A violent wind dragged your boat far away, but I can still see it fast at sea.   Maybe tomorrow you reach Delphi or ubi Troia fuit.   Not you! Your shadow, my friend.

4. Teodoro Rennó Assunção

Teodoro Rennó Assunção (Belo Horizonte MG, 1961) is an associate professor of ancient Greek language and literature at the Faculty of Letters, Federal University of Minas Gerais (http://lattes.cnpq.br/8502192331689449), researching mainly since the mid-2000s “food and banquets” in Homer (and particularly in the Odyssey) and more recently “the typical bath scene” also in Homer (and in the Odyssey), themes about which he has published several articles in the last 15 years. He also researches modern/contemporary French and Brazilian literature, as well as visual arts and cinema (areas in which he publishes sporadically). He is also a writer of free essays, memoirs and short stories, having published Ociografias (Otium-graphies 1993), Ensaios de escola (School essays 2003), Autociografias (Autotium-graphies 2006) and Extra-vacâncias (Extra-vacancies 2008), but only a very brief book of poems, Restolho & Necrológio (1997), in addition to a few occasional poems in avant-garde collections and magazines (or in performances), considering himself only a bissextile poet.

You can watch Teodoro Rennó Assunção read on Youtube.

5. Bernardo Lins Brandão

Bernardo Lins Brandão (Belo Horizonte, 1981) Professor of Greek Language and Literature at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG): http://lattes.cnpq.br/1448608601486631. He has a degree in Literature: Bachelor’s Degree in Ancient Greek and in Portuguese from the Faculty of Letters of the UFMG. He holds a Master’ s degree in Philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities (FAFICH) da UFMG and a PhD in Philosophy from FAFICH-UFMG. He works mainly in the following themes: ancient Greek language and literature, ancient philosophy, Neoplatonism. He was editor of the blog-review scamandro: poesia tradução crítica (www.escamandro.wordpress.com) and is author of the book Rua Musas (Musas Street, 2013).

 

Os pés de Ulisses

ao fim da jornada

compreendeu Ulisses os maiores riscos

quais eram

o corpo nupcial de Nausícaa

a imortalidade vislumbrada

nas coxas de Calipso

as delícias de Circe

mas ele, homem multiardiloso, saqueador de cidades, ninguém, ele, que tinha a nostalgia como guia

 

havia gravado Ítaca

em brasa, na sola dos pés

 

Ulysses’ feet

at the end of the journey

Ulysses understood

the biggest risks

wich were

 

Nausicaa’s bridal body

the immortality glimpsed

on Calypso’s thighs

Circe’s delights

 

but he, a multiardylous man, plunderer of cities, no one, he, who had

nostalgia as his guide

had written Ithaca

with fire, on the soles of his feet

Bernardo Lins Brandão

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1448608601486631

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZXjcwX2RDA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQq-xc7PZys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hiHkRLYsqE