A Pizarnik Poem From Every Angle: Towards a New Method of Analysis for Poetic Translations
Since John Dryden, most typologies of poetic translations are prescriptive, based on a restrictive conception of the poetic genre, and focused solely on one aspect of the poem. Considering that verse translation can be dealt with from three different angles (concept, sound and space), we first present a method of analysis likely to help classify poetry translations in a more precise manner. We then apply our methodology to the analysis of six English versions of the first poem of Árbol de Diana by Argentine author Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972). This case study will show how a rigorous analysis of the source poem according to its conceptual content as well as its treatment of sound and space, may help identify its particular features and determine how they have been integrated, if at all, in the target poem.