Adventures in Intersemiotic and Metaphysical Translation

Abstract

The notion of intersemiotic translation, as it relates to more traditional forms of translation, is like the poem as read next to the poem as performed. The latter can be so open to interpretation that it leaves behind the intention of the original. The possibilities of conceptual interpretation, across media, or through the static to the improvised, will always create the risk of meaninglessness precisely because of their grand potentiality. This collaboration (a cousin or twin to intersemiotic translation) aims to illuminate this volatility, as while it began on the page, rigorous, it was truly made live, in front of an audience, at the first European Poetry Festival in 2018. An unpredictable self-critique laces this work, one born out of pressure.