Midsummer Madness: when the heart leaps
I'm representing London for Random Acts of Poetry again! RAP week is the
first week of October, 2006. This year's special emphasis is on literacy. The
RAP week across Canada is sponsored this year by the Canada Council for the
Arts and Victoria READ Society.
The READ society would like us to visit ESL and literacy classes. I'm
available to come to libraries and schools to read a poem and/or give a talk.
I'm also available to give creative writing classes and readings for teens,
youngsters and /or adults in schools and libraries. I can also be sponsored
through the League of Poets, the Writers’ Union or Playwrights Guild.
My book on teaching creative writing is on line at
http://mytown.ca/whatspringstomind/. More writing workshops are up on
http://www.youngpoets.ca/workshop/workshop.php.
My dear nephew Jordan Kemp’s interview with me about RAPping with
young writers will appear in What If ? Magazine, September 2006.
Be prepared for a random gift of poetry! During the first week of October, I
will be popping up everywhere to sound some poetry in Random Acts of
Poetry, www.randomactsofpoetry.com. You may be one of those who’ll
receive a free poem or hand-bound poetry book from Pendas Productions!
We’ll offer 50 books of my poetry to celebrate the occasion.
Poem power! Random Acts of Poetry, everywhere! Liberate the lanes for
poetry, the alleys for allies of our verse! I'd do almost anything to lift the
word off the page, including Random performances, any time. Raves,
ongoing! Expect the unexpected in a whole WEEK of Random Acts that will
concentrate the mind something fierce. Randomly yours, RAP on!...
Photo credit of Jordan Kemp and Penn Kemp: Gavin Stairs
*
Gavin is at work on new Pendas Poets books and CDs! Details about releases
and events will follow in my September letter.
*
Poetry London is sponsoring three readings for “In Good Company” on
September 27, October 4 and 25 when Gloria Mulcahy and I will be reading
and presenting videos with Janette Hughes, who recently completed her PhD
on four local poets working in new media and the implications for teaching
poetry. You can see Janette’s work, including an interview with me on “poem
for peace” up on http://publish.edu.uwo.ca/janette.gadanidis/poets.html.
“In Good Company is a month long event featuring London women who work
in the arts. The title, inspired by visual artist Sue Boone, encompasses the
idea that all the women involved, as we live and create, are in the good
company of each other: inspiration, talent, process, and product. The event
takes place across the city from Sept 28 to Nov 3 and will showcase choral
music, theatre, poetry, dramatists, songwriters, singers and artists.”
*
Please check out the intriguing analysis and visual representation of my poem
“When the Heart Parts”, below. It’s by Alex Santana Costa, a student of
Miguel Nenevé, who is a Pendas Poet and Professor at the University of
Rondonia in Brazil.
Here's to RAPping, and happy summer!
Penn Kemp, Pendas Productions
525 Canterbury Road, London ON N6G 2N5
t:(519) 434-8555
e: pendas@pennkemp.ca
web: www.pennkemp.ca
http://www.mytown.ca/pendas/
August 2006
***************************************************************
Upcoming and Ongoing…
Publications, Summer 2006
“Last August Light”, Hammered Out #9, 2006
“Surrounding: for Anette”, WomenSpeak, Vol. 1, Issue 5, Summer 2006
http://www.womenspeak.ca/documents/June_July_August_2006.pdf
“Piece by Piece”, “Arms and the Boy”, http://www.writersalliance.net/submission15.html,
June 2006
Reviews/Critical Analysis/Press, Summer 2006
C'loud, by Penn Kemp, Hammered Out, review by B. O'Donnell, June 2006
Gathering Voice, by Penn Kemp, “You Review", Artscape, by B. O'Donnell, May 2006
Gathering Voice, by Penn Kemp, Poets’ Podium, review by B. O'Donnell, Spring 2006
Animus, by Penn Kemp, Scene, review by B.R, July 6, 2006 (see below!)
“Parade of Performances coming to Aeolian Hall Performing Arts Centre” by James
Mason, Scene, P. 25, July 20 2006
“Madonna pilgrimage”, London Free Press, by Kathy Rumleski, July 24 2006
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/2006/07/24/1699307-sun.html, July 24 2006
Poem for Peace in Many Voices, by Penn Kemp, Artscape, by Donna Bamford, August
2006
Janette Hughes' 2006 PhD thesis, Poets, Poetry and New Media: Attending to the Teaching
and Learning of Poetry, University of Western Ontario, 2006.
Alex Santana Costa: Sobre a análise da tradução de "When the heart parts” (see below!)
Launches, Fall 2006
Trance Form, book, with Intro. by P.K. Page
Trance Dance Form: Doors Open Live at the Brickworks, cd with SoundSpoke Ensemble
Darkness Visible, cd with Chris Meloche
Upcomng, Fall 2006
School Readings, sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets.
Sept. 18, 2006. Marymount Academy Catholic School, all girls. 165 D’Youville St.,
Sudbury P3C5E7. Contact: "Kimberly Fahner" <fahnerk@scdsb.edu.on.ca>, 705 674 4231
Sept. 19, 2006. St. Benedict Catholic S. School, 2993 Algonquin, Sudbury. Contact: Rick
Carter, 705 523 9235
Sept. 20, 2006. St. Charles College, 1940 Hawthorne, Sudbury. Contact: Nancy Daoust,
705 566 9605
Monday, October 2 to Sunday, October 8, Random Acts of Poetry, London
Penn Kemp is London's Random poet in October, appearing throughout the city to read her
poems and give away 50 books!
Wednesday Oct 25, 2006, 7:30. POETRY LONDON presents IN GOOD COMPANY:
“London Poets and the New Media”, Landon Library, 167 Wortley Road, London
Janette Hughes, Penn Kemp and Gloria Alvernaz Mulcahy. Penn is one of four poets
presented in Janette Hughes' 2006 PhD thesis, Poets, Poetry and New Media: Attending to
the Teaching and Learning of Poetry. Gloria and Penn will show videos based on their
poetry. Contact: Carolyn Doyle <carolyn.doyle@lpl.london.on.ca>, 439-6240.
Recent Readings, July 2006
Darkness Visible, with Chris Meloche, July 22 2006, 8:00 pm. Summer Soirée, Aeolian
Hall, London ON. OPENING NIGHT, 7:00 pm-11:00 pm. The Aeolian Performing Arts
Centre presented our first Visual Arts Opening Featuring Marion Drysdale, Anya
Romanenko, Michael Wickerson and literary selections by poet Penn Kemp.
http://aeolianhall.ca/events.php. Free. Contact: <info@aeolianhall.ca>. Performance by
poet Penn Kemp, 45 minutes, with electroacoustic music composer Chris Meloche. Penn’s
poems honour the Dark Feminine, reflecting Marion Drysdale’s visuals of the Black
Madonna. See Penn's Update on http://www.mytown.ca/pennletters/ July.
July 26, 2006, 1:00 pm. Penn Kemp and Gavin Stairs, The Epic of Toad and Heron as part
of the Library's Quest for Heroes summer reading program, St. Mary’s Public Library. St.
Mary's Community Centre, St. Mary's ON. The Epic of Toad and Heron, like all good fairy
tales, is a play that speaks to us on many levels .It is, first of all, a fantasy pageant. A toad
prince meets a real princess, the daughter of the sun and moon. When she turns into a bird,
Toad follows her up to the sky and back to earth. His little toads follow him... and then...
Well, you’ll have to see the script! It’s available from www.playwrightsguild.ca. We read
the play with and for the audience, inviting those present to participate in the play. For
inside each of us reigns a prince or princess... and a Toad!
Contact: <Summereading@stmaryspubliclibrary.ca>
July 27, 2006, 4:00 pm. Penn performed her “Ode to Tim Two Bits” for "Community
Activism For Urban Change", EN PLEIN AIR: "EXPLORE THE CORE", Tour/Speaker
Series. The Arts Project, 205 1/2 Dundas Street, London.
Contact: <sean@altlondon.org>, http://www.openair.ca/
when the heart leaps…
Alex Santana Costa, An Analysis of the translation of "When the heart parts": Sobre a
análise da tradução de "When the heart parts", Porto Velho, Brazil, 2006.
Poemas Escolhidos de Penn Kemp / Selected Poems by Penn Kemp is available from
Pendas Productions.
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Analysis of the poem “When the heart parts”, by Penn Kemp, and its translation
“Quando parte o coração”, by Professor Miguel Nenevé
When the Heart Parts
Whwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwh
Whwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwh?
Whwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhen
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When the heart
When the
When the heart parts
When the heart
When the heart parts come
When the heart parts
When the heart parts come Pan
When the heart parts come
When the heart parts come Pan
When the heart parts come Pan
When the heart parts come Penny
When the heart parts come Penny
When the heart parts company
When the heart stops the art of the come
When the heart stops the art of
When the heart parts company
art stops
Whwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwwhwhwhwhwh
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when the
when
when the come
when the
when the come Pan
when the come
when the come Penny
when the come Penny
when the company
when the company
when the company part
when the company part
when the company part from
when the company part from
when the company part from the
when the company part from the
when the company part from the
when the company part from the heart heart
when the company part company from
the heart when the company part
when the company part company
from the heart when the company
company from the hearth
part company from the hearth
the heart
does not stop.
Quando Parte O Coração
Quanquanquanquanquanquanquanquan
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Quanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquando
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Quando o coração
Quando o
Quando a triste parte
Quando o coração parte
Quando a triste parte chega
Quando a triste parte
Quando o coração parte vem Pan
Quando a triste parte chega
Quando o coração parte vem Pan
Quando o coração parte vem Pan
Quando o coração parte com Penny
Quando o coração parte com Penny
Quando o coração parte companhia
Quando o coração parte companhia
Pára a arte
Quanquanquaanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquanquan
quando
quando a
quando com
quando com Pan
quando com Penny
quando a companhia
quando a companhia parte
quando a companhia parte de
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quando com
quando com Penny
quando a companhia
quando a companhia parte
quando a companhia parte de
quando a companhia parte do
quando a companhia parte do coração
quando a companhia parte do
quando a companhia parte do coração
quando a companhia parte do coração
quando a companhia parte do coração
a companhia da lareira
quando a companhia parte do coração
quando a companhia
passa a ser companheira
o coração
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quando o coração parte começa a arte
This study consists of analyzing the translation of a poem written by Penn Kemp, a
Canadian poet, translated by professor Miguel Nenevé in a bilingual book of poems
organized by him (Poemas Escolhidos de Penn Kemp / Selected Poems by Penn Kemp). I
chose the poem “When the heart parts / Quando parte o coração” because of the difficulties
that it presents to a translator, not only because it is very resounding but also for its form
and emotional value (the most important aspect) that cannot be ignored or subverted by a
translator. Furthermore, I do love poetry, principally a poem like this that I consider a
masterpiece. In addition, the introduction to this bilingual book called my attention to this
poem: professor Miguel Nenevé showed us the importance of this poem to Penn Kemp.
She wrote it “on the occasion of her father’s death” because “The poem, like a heart, parts
itself; it tears itself and after some ‘learning’ recomposes itself, promoting unity and
beauty.” (12) For sure he is not wrong, because, as we can see, the poem in fact symbolizes
a broken heart (the poet’s broken heart) that tries to show us its pain and deep sadness:
“when the company part from the heart heart”, “quando a companhia parte do coração”.
However, this heart, even though it be disjointed, does not transmit desperation to us. Quite the
opposite. Through its verses without an end (a dot, for example), it shows us hope, and serenity, and
sensitivity, an endless love that death never will be able to destroy: “When the heart parts come Penny”;
“Quando o coração parte vem Penny”. Therefore, we can say the “heart” is temporarily broken and hurt,
waiting for something that will join its pieces again: “The heart / does not stop.” “O coração / não pára”.
Through the connection between the title of the poem (When the heart parts) and its central subtitle (“art
stops”) the poet seems to say there is no escape for the brokenhearted (“Quando o coração parte, é o fim da
arte”). Even so, she now, connecting the title and the verses from the end of the poem, seems to realize (or to
make us to see) that “Art” rebuilds the parts that fell apart when the heart parts: “When the heart parts / The
heart / does not stop.”
In addition, Penn uses her only one “dot” in the end of the poem, maybe to
characterize that even parted the heart never will stop; consequently, as “art” and “heart” are together as one,
life will go on with Penn as pounding heart and her father a living art.
On the other hand, through professor Miguel’s translation, we can see that the Portuguese language
brings to the poem, at least, one possible different point of view hidden away beyond it, as for example, in the
connection between the title of the poem and the central verse “Quando o coração parte, pára a arte”, we can
translate into English “When the heart leaves, for art” (because “parte” in Portuguese means both “piece”, a
noun, and “leave”, a verb, and “location”, a noun; while “pára”, even means correctly the verb “stop”, due to
be a homophonic homonym (“para”, can mean “for” and/or “to”. So, considering this interpretation, it is not
wrong to say “the heart stops temporarily for art, but not for life.”
So, in respect to the meaning of the end of the poem, once more, in his translation, professor Miguel
contributes positively to the poem, now, with a creative and remarkable verse that summarizes the essence
and sensitiveness of the poem: “Quando o coração parte começa a arte” that means “When the heart parts, art
starts”; or, due to the ambiguity of the Portuguese word “parte”, “When the heart leaves, art begins.” Besides
these contributions, professor Miguel Nenevé gives another one that could mean the exteriorization of Penn’s
implicit sadness. He writes “quando a triste parte / quando a triste parte chega” (when the sad part / when the
sad part comes) instead the philological translation “quando o coração parte / quando o coração parte vem”
(when the heart parts / when the heart parts come). Therefore, he tries to interpret the sense of the verses,
escaping from the literal translation that, according to Lefevere, emphasizes “word-for-word”, distorting “the
sense and the syntax of the original.” I believe the literal translation of those verses into Portuguese would
not distort the sense and the syntax either. However, I see that interpretation as a positive contribution,
considering that the translator can, even unconsciously, put his/her emotions (values) into his/her translations,
since he/she does not subvert the sense of his/her stuff of study, looking for a coherent and satisfactory theory
of translation: Nida, Eugene A., Theories of translation:
“A theory should be coherent and integrated set of proposition used as principles
for explaining a class of phenomena. […] A satisfactory theory should help in the
recognition of elements which have not been recognizable before…should also
provide a measure of predictability about the degree of success to be expected
from the use of certain principles, given the particular expectation of an
audience, the nature of the content, the amount of information carried by the
form of the discourse, and the circumstance of use.” (20)
That game of words and meanings done by Professor Miguel, throughout his
translation, shows us that he is paying attention to Brazilian readers all the time, perhaps
trying to affect them emotionally (similar to what Penn Kemp seems to do). For example,
he moved the verb “part” from the end to the center of the sentence, causing ambiguity. To
this kind of approach, Eugene A. Nida names “The communicative and sociosemiotic
perspectives”. In the communicative one he says:
“…The different ways in which societies employ language in interpersonal
relations are crucial for anyone concerning with translating. […] A maximal
requirement for translational adequacy would mean that the readers of the
translation would respond to the text both emotively and cognitively in a manner
essentially similar to the ways in which the original readers responded.” (25-26)
On the other hand, in the sociosemiotic perspective, he presents that:
“The advantages of a sociosemiotic approach to translating are to be found in
(1) employing a realistic epistemology which can speak relevantly about the real
world of everyday experience, since its basis is a triadic relation between sign,
referent, and interpretant […] (2) being at the cutting edge of verbal creativity,
rather than being found by reductionist requirements which depend on ideal
speaker-hearers, who never exist, (3) recognizing the plasticity of language, the
fuzzy boundaries of usage, and the ultimate indeterminacy of meaning, […] (4)
being essentially interdisciplinary in view of the multiplicity of codes.” (27-28)
As we now perceive, the translator (Miguel Nenevé) was able to translate the poem
keeping the sonority, the visual form, the meaning and, principally, the emotion and
sensitiveness existing in the original version. Therefore, Brazilian readers not only can
read and “understand” the poem but also feel its deeper meanings, because when the
reader’s heart parts, the more remarkable is the art.
PORTO VELHO, NOVEMBER 25, 2005.
FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RONDONIA – UNIR
DEPARTMENT OF MODERN FOREIN LANGUAGES
POST-GRADUATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURES
THEORIES OF TRANSLATION
PROFESSOR: DR. MIGUEL NENEVÉ
STUDENT: ALEX SANTANA COSTA
ANIMUS
Penn Kemp, Pendas Productions, 121 pages.
First released in 1986 (Caitlin Press) Penn Kemp's Animus was received with excellent
reviews. Thirty years later the collection is just as poignant and imaginative. Kemp takes on
the concept of Animus, a term analytical psychologist Carl Jung defined as “the masculine
voice of the feminine psyche.” It is this voice within against which the speaker first rages
and then comes to accept.
Animus revisits Greco-Roman myth relating modem and traditional gender battles as well
as the speakers own sorrow in unreciprocated unconditional love. Immediately drawn in by
the first piece, a gradual unwinding of word by word until the ultimate formation of one
simple thought which Kemp echoes throughout the collection. It is a testament to the
anguish of self-discovery and lost love throughout the works. However, lines like these are
problematic to detach from the core thoughts. Words and syntax are constantly drawn upon
to illustrate the connection of the male and female, at times blurring the two.
The text in Animus is accompanied by art by Anne Anglin who also created the illustrations
for Eros Rising, Penn's theatrical version of Animus. Her pieces add a visual layer to the
writing They act as a sort of balance for the audio and the visual of the poetry, providing
both the male and female spirits, as well as the undertone or backdrop of the spiritual voice
that has so enveloped the speaker. The collection is a must-read for any poetry lover. – B.R.
July 6, 2006 SCENE, London ON scenemagazine.com