![\"PAN=PAZ\"](\"http:\/\/nickm.com\/post\/wp-content\/stuff\/panpaz.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOttar Ormstad made the case for non-translation at the recent Paris 8 conference on the translation electronic literature. He eloquently explained that many explorations of language (including concrete poems) do not lend themselves to either ordinary translation or a simply explanatory note. This was a reasonable point that is appropriate to many works of concrete and sound poetry.<\/p>\n
To illustrate this point, he displayed this concrete poem by Uruguayan poet Clemente Padin.<\/p>\n
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Very compelling! This is an amazing poem that is quite language-specific. And yet, I was compelled to translate it to English, and have done so below:<\/p>\n
![\"ZAP](\"http:\/\/nickm.com\/post\/wp-content\/stuff\/zapnap.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The original message, that PAN (bread) converges with PAZ (peace), cannot be communicated precisely in every way. But, using the same characters as in the original poem, I can assert that people should ZAP their NAP and wake up to our reality, in which the needs of our fellow people must be met before peace can be attained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ottar Ormstad made the case for non-translation at the recent Paris 8 conference on the translation electronic literature. He eloquently explained that many explorations of language (including concrete poems) do not lend themselves to either ordinary translation or a simply explanatory note. This was a reasonable point that is appropriate to many works of concrete … <\/p>\n