Novas: selected writings of Haroldo de Campos

The first full-scale English translation of one of Brazil's-and the world's-most influential avant-garde literary voices A generous introduction to one of the key literary figures to emerge from Brazil in the second half of the twentieth century, this book offers English-speaking readers an ample selection of this prodigious writer's celebrated poetry and widely influential critical work. As a poet and as a cofounder of the renowned group Noigandres, Haroldo de Campos has made a unique and substantial contribution to the theory and practice of experimental writing, particularly the form known as concrete poetry, and to the Latin American avant-garde as a whole. These contributions, acclaimed worldwide by figures such as Umberto Eco, Jacques Derrida, Octavio Paz, and Guillermo Cabrera Infante, can be observed unfolding here, first in poetry selections ranging from de Campos' early work before concretism through his most recent production; then in theoretical texts that trace his evolution as a critic from an early interest in baroque and modernist writers to his development of an innovative model for reading, translating, and writing. This second, critical section of the book includes de Campos' encounters with the tasks of translating and reading some of the most important texts of Eastern and Western culture-from Ecclesiastes to the No play Hagoromo, from Dante to Paz-thus charting a genealogy of modern literature. Together, these poems and critical writings afford English-speaking readers their first sustained exposure to a unique personality within the international avant-garde, a writer described by Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto as "that wonderful thing: / a poet and a translator who came to literature armed with an enviable / knowledge of the literary phenomenon." Contents......Page 6 Foreword Interessantíssimo......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 A Note on This Edition......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 I: Poetry......Page 40 From Xadrez de estrelas [Star Chess] (1949–1974)......Page 42 From Invenção [Invention], year 6, no. 5 (1967)......Page 102 From Signantia: quasi coelum (Signância: quase céu) [Paradisiacal Signifiers] (1979)......Page 106 From A educação dos cinco sentidos [The Education of the FiveSenses] (1985)......Page 130 From Galáxias [Galaxies] (1963–1976, 1984)......Page 158 From Finismundo: A última viagem [Finismundo: The Las tVoyage] (1990)......Page 168 From Crisantempo: no espaço curvo nasce um [Chrysantempo: In Curved Space Is Born A] (1998)......Page 176 II: Essays......Page 190 Reinventing Tradition......Page 192 Anthropophagous Reason: Dialogue and Difference in Brazilian Culture......Page 194 Disappearance of the Baroque in Brazilian Literature: The Case of Gregório de Matos......Page 215 The Trans-American Pilgrimage of Sousândrade’s Guesa......Page 231 An Oswald de Andrade Triptych......Page 238 The Concrete Moment......Page 252 Pilot Plan for Concrete Poetry......Page 254 The Open Work of Art......Page 257 The Informational Temperature of the Text......Page 260 Concrete Poetry–Language–Communication......Page 272 A Laboratory of Texts......Page 284 Brazilian and German Avant-Garde Poetry......Page 286 The Ghost in the Text (Saussure and the Anagrams)......Page 313 Poetic Function and Ideogram/The Sinological Argument......Page 324 Translation as Creation and Criticism......Page 349 Hölderlin’s Red Word......Page 364 Eucalypse: The Beautiful Occultation......Page 371 Light: Paradisiacal Writing......Page 386 Notes......Page 396 Bibliography of Works by Haroldo de Campos......Page 428 Index of Poem Titles......Page 432 Contents 6 Foreword Interessantíssimo 8 Acknowledgments 10 A Note on This Edition 12 Introduction 14 I: Poetry 40 From Xadrez de estrelas [Star Chess] (1949–1974) 42 From Invenção [Invention], year 6, no. 5 (1967) 102 From Signantia: quasi coelum (Signância: quase céu) [Paradisiacal Signifiers] (1979) 106 From A educação dos cinco sentidos [The Education of the FiveSenses] (1985) 130 From Galáxias [Galaxies] (1963–1976, 1984) 158 From Finismundo: A última viagem [Finismundo: The Las tVoyage] (1990) 168 From Crisantempo: no espaço curvo nasce um [Chrysantempo: In Curved Space Is Born A] (1998) 176 II: Essays 190 Reinventing Tradition 192 Anthropophagous Reason: Dialogue and Difference in Brazilian Culture 194 Disappearance of the Baroque in Brazilian Literature: The Case of Gregório de Matos 215 The Trans-American Pilgrimage of Sousândrade’s Guesa 231 An Oswald de Andrade Triptych 238 The Concrete Moment 252 Pilot Plan for Concrete Poetry 254 The Open Work of Art 257 The Informational Temperature of the Text 260 Concrete Poetry–Language–Communication 272 A Laboratory of Texts 284 Brazilian and German Avant-Garde Poetry 286 The Ghost in the Text (Saussure and the Anagrams) 313 Poetic Function and Ideogram/The Sinological Argument 324 Translation as Creation and Criticism 349 Hölderlin’s Red Word 364 Eucalypse: The Beautiful Occultation 371 Light: Paradisiacal Writing 386 Notes 396 Bibliography of Works by Haroldo de Campos 428 Index of Poem Titles 432 Poetry