Haroldo de Campos
Encyclopedia
Haroldo de Campos was a Brazil
ian poet, critic, and translator. He did his secondary education at the College of St. Benedict, where he learned the first foreign language, like Latin, English, Spanish and French. He and his brother Augusto de Campos
, together with Décio Pignatari
, formed the poetic group Noigandres that published the experimental journal of the same name, which would launch the Brazil
ian movement of poesia concreta (concrete poetry). Harold received his doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences of USP, under the guidance of Antonio Candido, having been a professor at PUC-SP, as well as the University of Texas at Austin. His biography was included in the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1997 and was the winner of the Premio Octavio Paz de Poesia y Ensayo, Mexico, in 1999.
Brazilian writer Affonso Romano de Sant'Anna about Harold and his brother
"The Campos brothers are wonderful people, but have an overwhelming culture of such an order - you know Russian, Japanese, Chinese, irrigation, Latin - the young poet, poor thing, which comes with half a dozen thoughts, do not have to say. You just follow what they say, because, moreover, the theory is very fascinating ... I find them very good poets ... What we do not like the attitude of the concrete, is that they only exist for 1956 - Concrete. Cross out the real dissidents, not aware of neoconcrete (1956), the Praxis does not exist for them, the process poem has no sense. "Guitar Street" or speak up. Only interested in Trend (1957), because they had to take the "leap participant" during the tumultuous period of Joao Goulart "... Fields greatly reduced the performance of them - are entitled to do this, of course - did everything programmatically, that is, when they reached an international level, for reasons of economy, saved contact at the household level. It is a matter of personal choice.
He translated some of the most important literature
of the Western tradition into Portuguese
, such as Homer
's Iliad
, prose by James Joyce
and poetry by Mallarmé
. When he died he left unfinished
a translation of Dante
's Comedia, a manuscript that Umberto Eco
had a chance to read, which compelled him to say that "Haroldo de Campos is the best Dante translator in the world".The translation, according to Haroldo de Campos, is much more than move text from one language to another. Elements of the structure of the poem, like the rhythm and sound combinations (rhyme, assonance, etc.) are often more important than the semantics of words.His translations include poetry, Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Hebrew texts.He translated, big names of world literature, as Goethe (German), Ezra Pound, James Joyce (English), Mayakovsky (Russian), Mallarmé (French), Dante (Italian) and Octavio Paz (Spanish) .
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian poet, critic, and translator. He did his secondary education at the College of St. Benedict, where he learned the first foreign language, like Latin, English, Spanish and French. He and his brother Augusto de Campos
Augusto de Campos
Augusto de Campos is a Brazilian writer who was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist....
, together with Décio Pignatari
Décio Pignatari
Décio Pignatari is a Brazilian poet, essayist and translator.Since the 1950s, conducting experiments with poetic language, incorporating visuals elements and the fragmentation of words...
, formed the poetic group Noigandres that published the experimental journal of the same name, which would launch the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian movement of poesia concreta (concrete poetry). Harold received his doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences of USP, under the guidance of Antonio Candido, having been a professor at PUC-SP, as well as the University of Texas at Austin. His biography was included in the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1997 and was the winner of the Premio Octavio Paz de Poesia y Ensayo, Mexico, in 1999.
Brazilian writer Affonso Romano de Sant'Anna about Harold and his brother
"The Campos brothers are wonderful people, but have an overwhelming culture of such an order - you know Russian, Japanese, Chinese, irrigation, Latin - the young poet, poor thing, which comes with half a dozen thoughts, do not have to say. You just follow what they say, because, moreover, the theory is very fascinating ... I find them very good poets ... What we do not like the attitude of the concrete, is that they only exist for 1956 - Concrete. Cross out the real dissidents, not aware of neoconcrete (1956), the Praxis does not exist for them, the process poem has no sense. "Guitar Street" or speak up. Only interested in Trend (1957), because they had to take the "leap participant" during the tumultuous period of Joao Goulart "... Fields greatly reduced the performance of them - are entitled to do this, of course - did everything programmatically, that is, when they reached an international level, for reasons of economy, saved contact at the household level. It is a matter of personal choice.
He translated some of the most important literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
of the Western tradition into Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, such as Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, prose by James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
and poetry by Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
. When he died he left unfinished
Unfinished work
An unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
a translation of Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's Comedia, a manuscript that Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
had a chance to read, which compelled him to say that "Haroldo de Campos is the best Dante translator in the world".The translation, according to Haroldo de Campos, is much more than move text from one language to another. Elements of the structure of the poem, like the rhythm and sound combinations (rhyme, assonance, etc.) are often more important than the semantics of words.His translations include poetry, Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Hebrew texts.He translated, big names of world literature, as Goethe (German), Ezra Pound, James Joyce (English), Mayakovsky (Russian), Mallarmé (French), Dante (Italian) and Octavio Paz (Spanish) .
Works
- Xadrez de Estrelas (1976)
- Signância: Quase Céu (1979)
- Galáxias (1984)
- A Educação dos Cinco Sentidos (1985)
- Crisantempo (1998)
- A Máquina do Mundo Repensada (2001)
External links
Official website of Haroldo de Campos- "De Campos Thou Art Translated (Knot)" by Charles BernsteinCharles BernsteinCharles Bernstein is an American poet, theorist, editor, and literary scholar. Bernstein holds the Donald T. Regan Chair in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is one of the most prominent members of the Language poets . In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American...
Further reading
- Jackson, K. David., ed. Haroldo de Campos: A Dialogue with the Brazilian Concrete Poet. Oxford: Centre for Brazilian Studies, Oxford University, 2005.
- Else Vieira and Bernard Mc Gwirk, eds. Haroldo de Campos In Conversation, In Memoriam. London: Zoilus Press, 2009.
- Charles A. Perrone, Seven Faces: Brazilian Poetry since Modernism (Duke U P, 1996), chs. 2 and 6.