catalogos diversidad e identidad:Layout 2
28/3/11
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The Poetry Inside the Artist´s Book Stephen Sadow, Professor, Northeastern University, Boston (USA) January, 2011.
n each artist´s book, there is one poem written by one Jewish Latin American poet. The poems that were chosen for these books contain joy and sadness, realism and fantasy, emotion and reflection. Each poem is mature and coherent, profound and unique. Together they demonstrate an enormous Jewish creativity that is dispersed throughout the inmensity of Latin America, USA and Israel. This poetry deals with Jewish identity, influenced by a Hispanic environment and, at the same time, inspired by a Jewish world view and Jewish traditions. It includes new versions of Biblical stories, the mysticism of the Cabala, Israel, love and hate, lamentations for the Holocaust, Jewish immigration to Latin America, and dictatorship, especially El Proceso (The Dirty War) in Argentina. Some of the poets expose their most private selves or meditate on the symbols and practices of Judaism. Others protest anti-Semitic crimes. Some employ a constellation of poetic styles inspired by Rubén Darío, César Vallejo, Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda and Alejandra Pizarnik, while others embrace the Neo-Baroque complexities or the tendency toward incoherence at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
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Each artist´s book displays a translation into English of the chosen poem. Poetry written by Latin American Jews is little known in the United States and in other countries where English is the dominant language or a common second language. With only a few exceptions—among them the Chilean-American Marjorie Agosín and the CubanAmerican José Kozer—, these poets, so expressive of the Latin American version of Judaism, have no place. The inclusion of the translation of each poem in the artist´s book is meant to open a small door to the better understanding of a strong and vibrant Jewish culture. Moreover a literary translation is an art work in itself. It serves as an important contribution to the act of creating an artist´s book. •
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