Edmond Jabès and the First Term
Translation and Wandering
Keywords:
Edmond Jabès, wandering, poetic translationAbstract
This article comments on the book La mémoire et la main (1974-1980), by Edmond Jabès, in particular the poem “Toujours cette image”. The commentary stands on the quest of the poet for the first term, or the original word, and is informed by reflections of the philosophy of language (Benjamin, 2011; Derrida, 1967) and by the transcendent vision of the word in pre-literate cultures (Kopenawa & Albert, 2015). Expatriation is as a central theme in the work of Jabès, an Egyptian Jew exiled in France. The desert is a metaphor of the blank page and writing appears as a dwelling. This exposition will be followed by the translation of the poem in Portuguese and by a meditation on poetic translation, also inhabited by exile. There is a slippery aspect in words, a difficulty to bind them which is compatible with the state of wandering of the poet. Following his trail, the translator strides, fearing to root, trying aimlessly to retain the slippery words.
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