Haroldo Eurico Browne de Campos (19 August 1929 – 16 August 2003) was a Brazilian poet, critic, professor and translator. He is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in

Brazilian literature Brazilian literature is the literature written in the Portuguese language by Brazilians or in Brazil, including works written prior to the country's independence in 1822. Throughout its early years, literature from Brazil followed the literary t ...

since 1950.

Biography

He did his secondary education at Colégio São Bento, where he learned his first foreign languages (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

). He and his brother

Augusto de Campos Augusto de Campos (born 14 February 1931, São Paulo) is a Brazilian writer who (with his brother Haroldo de Campos) was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist. Work In 1952 ...

, together with

Décio Pignatari Décio Pignatari (August 20, 1927 – December 2, 2012) was a Brazilian poet, essayist and translator. Early life and education Born in Jundiaí in 1927, Pignatari began conducting experiments with poetic language, incorporating visuals ...

, formed the poetic group Noigandres that published the experimental journal of the same name, which would launch the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian movement of ''poesia concreta'' (concrete poetry). Haroldo received his doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences of USP (

Universidade de São Paulo The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

), under the guidance of

Antonio Candido Antonio Candido de Mello e Souza (July 24, 1918 – May 12, 2017) was a Brazilian writer, professor, sociologist, and literary critic. As a critic of Brazilian literature, he is regarded as having been one of the foremost scholars on the subject ...

. Haroldo was professor at the Catholic University, PUC-SP, and visiting professor at Yale and the University of Texas at Austin. His biography was included in the Encyclopædia Britannica in 1997 and he was awarded the Premio Octavio Paz de Poesia y Ensayo, Mexico, in 1999. In addition to his vast repertory of original poetry and literary essays, Haroldo translated some of the most important

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

of the Western tradition into

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, such as

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

'', prose by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

and poetry by Mallarmé. When he died he left

unfinished Unfinished may refer to: *Unfinished creative work, a work which a creator either chose not to finish or was prevented from finishing. Music * Symphony No. 8 (Schubert) "Unfinished" * ''Unfinished'' (album), 2011 album by American singer Jor ...

a translation of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's '' Commedia'', a manuscript that

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

had a chance to read, which compelled him to say that "Haroldo de Campos is the best Dante translator in the world". Translation, according to Haroldo de Campos, is much more than moving text from one language to another. Elements of the structure of the poem, like rhythm and sound combinations (rhyme, echoes, assonance, etc.) are often more important than semantics per se. His translations include poetry, Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Hebrew texts. He translated, major names of world literature, such as Goethe (German),

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

, James Joyce (English), Mayakovsky (Russian), Mallarmé (French), Dante (Italian) and

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and ...

(Spanish). On stage, his works have been performed by three actors:

Giulia Gam Giulia Daysi Gam (born 28 December 1966) is a Brazilian actress. Biography Giulia was born in Perugia when her father, José Carlos Gam Heuss, was taking a course. She has a Danish grandfather. Career She became famous in Brazil after perfo ...

(1989, ''Cena da Origem'', directed by

Bia Lessa Beatriz Ferreira Lessa (born 10 June 1958), known as Bia Lessa, is a Brazilian filmmaker, theater director and former theater actress, and curator. She very often collaborates with her husband, Dany Roland. Biography Bia Lessa was born in São Pau ...

), Bete Coelho (1997, ''Graal: Retrato de um Fausto Quando Jovem'', by Gerald Thomas) and

Luiz Päetow Luiz Päetow (born 1979) is a Brazilian theatre director, actor and playwright. Early life and education Päetow started working at age 11, with several productions of the British Council Theatre Group in São Paulo, including plays by William Sha ...

(2015, ''Puzzle'', by Felipe Hirsch).

Bibliography

Translations

- ''Cantares'' (together with

and

, 1960) * ''Panorama do

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction whi ...

'' (together with

, 1962) * ''Poesia Russa Moderna'' (together with

and Boris Schnaiderman, 1968) * ''A Operação do Texto'' (directives for the translation of the poem ''A Sierguéi Iessiênin'', de Maiakovski. 1976) * ''Deus e o Diabo no Fausto de Goethe'' (translation of fragments of

Goethe's Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German people, German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, politician, statesman, theatre director, and critic. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe bibliography, His works include pla ...

version for the myth

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

, 1981). . * ''Transblanco'' (translation of the poem ''Blanco'', byOctavio Paz. 1986) * ''Mallarmé'' (translation of some of Mallarmé's poems done together with

and

, 1991) * ''Pedra e Luz na Poesia de Dante'' (translation of fragments of the

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

, 2000) * ''Bere'shith: A Cena da Origen'' (translation of the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

and

The Book of Job The Book of Job (; hbo, אִיּוֹב, ʾIyyōḇ), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), and is the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Scholars are ...

, 2000) * ''Ilíada de Homero vol. 1'' (with notes by Trajano Vieira, 2001). * ''Ilíada de Homero vol. 2'' (with notes by Trajano Vieira, 2002) * ''Maiakovski Poemas'' (together with Augusto de Campos and Boris Schnaiderman, 2002) * ''Ungaretti - Daquela Estrela à Outra'' (translation of poems of the italian poet

Giuseppe Ungaretti Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experim ...

, together with Aurora Bernadiel, 2003) * ''Qohélet - o que sabe'' (translation of the biblical book

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...

, 2004) * ''Éden - Um Tríptico Bíblico'' (2005) * ''Hagoromo de Zeami'' (translation of the theater play Nô; hagoromo, written by Zeami Motokiyo, 2005)

Volumes of poetry

* ''Xadrez de Estrelas'' (1976) * ''Signância: Quase Céu'' (1979) * ''Galáxias'' (1984) * ''A Educação dos Cinco Sentidos'' (1985) * ''Crisantempo'' (1998) * ''A Máquina do Mundo Repensada'' (2001)

References

External links