Voice recording. Oliverio Girondo recorded the poems of his last collection, En la masmédula , on a 33 rpm vinyl disc at an unknown date for the series “Palabra en el tiempo,” directed by Arturo Cuadrado & Carlos Mazzanti. The recording can be heard on the Internet at http://www.cervantesvirtual.com. Type the author’s name in the “Busqueda” window or go directly to http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/ FichaAutor.html?Ref=3730&PO=1&portal=O
NOTES
Espantapájaros / Scarecrow
Translated from number [3] above; consultations made with [9] and [11].
Malabarist —”Fui metodista, malabarista, monogamista” (chapter 4). A malabarist is a juggler or thief, but is here translated “mountebank” to maintain the alliteration of the original. Many choices in the translation are based on such considerations. In point of fact, a mountebank—an entertainer hired to attract a crowd to a quack or sideshow—might juggle on occasion.
Calabrians —”Ni un conventillo de calabreses malcasados...” (chapter 11). Calabrians are natives of Calabria, Italy.
Gasometers —”... los gasómetros...” (chapter 13). Gasometers were large storage tanks for gasoline; the term was also used for a device attached to cars to save gas during shortages.
Poemas / Poems
The selections are all taken from Persuasión de los días (Persuasion of Days), using the texts printed in [9]. Consultation was made with [11].
─
Exvoto / Devotion refers to a bygone custom of flirting and courtship. Young women, finely dressed and accompanied by matrons or other girls, would stoll down the street in the evening, and men would circle in as if accidentally and toss out romantic or provocative remarks close to their ear.
─
Otro nocturno / Another Nocturne refers to the so-called “apache”—a ladies man, somewhere between lothario and pimp, who controls his woman with proud disdain; the type was made famous by the classical dance form with a dominating, abusive man and a submissive, clasping woman, both usually dressed in black.
Interlunio / Lunarlude
Translated from [9] with reference to [11]. This story provided much of the material for the film, The Dark Side of the Heart (1994). Director Eliseo Subiela, however, gave it quite a different slant.
Barrès —”Sólo un hombre capaz de usar un ala de cuervo sobre la frente, como Barrès...” Auguste Maurice Barrès (1862-1923) was French philosopher, statesman and novelist, noted for his nationalism. Evidently he wore a terrible toupee.
Prosa-Poemas / Prose Poems
The selections are all taken from Veinte poemas para ser leídos en el tranvía (Twenty Poems For Reading on the Streetcar), using the texts printed in [9] and with reference to [11].
Membretes / Memoranda
Selections come from the larger collection printed in [9]. Additional membretes are found in [10] and [11], but are not sampled here.
Récamier —”... las nalgas de madame Recamier” (page 172). Jeanne Françoise Récamier (1777-1849) was a celebrated hostess in French society; at age 15 she married a rich old baker and thereafter held a literary and political salon.
Manifiesto de “Martín Fierro” / The Manifesto of Martín Fierro
Printed in the journal Martín Fierro No.4, 15 May 1924, reprinted in [10], but not in [9] or [11]. The journal took the name of the hero (and title) of Latin America’s first great epic poem, written in 1872 by José Hernández. The epic extols the freedom, simplicity and integrity of the gaucho—the cowboy of Argentina’s pampas—and sets these virtues against the artificiality of modern life. At the same time the journal (and manifesto) affirmed the central position for Argentine letters of Rubén Darío (1867-1916), the great Nicaraguan poet and a founder of modernism in Latin American literature.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OLIVERIO GIRONDO (1891-1967) was born into a wealthy family in Buenos Aires.
NOTES
Espantapájaros / Scarecrow
Translated from number [3] above; consultations made with [9] and [11].
Malabarist —”Fui metodista, malabarista, monogamista” (chapter 4). A malabarist is a juggler or thief, but is here translated “mountebank” to maintain the alliteration of the original. Many choices in the translation are based on such considerations. In point of fact, a mountebank—an entertainer hired to attract a crowd to a quack or sideshow—might juggle on occasion.
Calabrians —”Ni un conventillo de calabreses malcasados...” (chapter 11). Calabrians are natives of Calabria, Italy.
Gasometers —”... los gasómetros...” (chapter 13). Gasometers were large storage tanks for gasoline; the term was also used for a device attached to cars to save gas during shortages.
Poemas / Poems
The selections are all taken from Persuasión de los días (Persuasion of Days), using the texts printed in [9]. Consultation was made with [11].
─
Exvoto / Devotion refers to a bygone custom of flirting and courtship. Young women, finely dressed and accompanied by matrons or other girls, would stoll down the street in the evening, and men would circle in as if accidentally and toss out romantic or provocative remarks close to their ear.
─
Otro nocturno / Another Nocturne refers to the so-called “apache”—a ladies man, somewhere between lothario and pimp, who controls his woman with proud disdain; the type was made famous by the classical dance form with a dominating, abusive man and a submissive, clasping woman, both usually dressed in black.
Interlunio / Lunarlude
Translated from [9] with reference to [11]. This story provided much of the material for the film, The Dark Side of the Heart (1994). Director Eliseo Subiela, however, gave it quite a different slant.
Barrès —”Sólo un hombre capaz de usar un ala de cuervo sobre la frente, como Barrès...” Auguste Maurice Barrès (1862-1923) was French philosopher, statesman and novelist, noted for his nationalism. Evidently he wore a terrible toupee.
Prosa-Poemas / Prose Poems
The selections are all taken from Veinte poemas para ser leídos en el tranvía (Twenty Poems For Reading on the Streetcar), using the texts printed in [9] and with reference to [11].
Membretes / Memoranda
Selections come from the larger collection printed in [9]. Additional membretes are found in [10] and [11], but are not sampled here.
Récamier —”... las nalgas de madame Recamier” (page 172). Jeanne Françoise Récamier (1777-1849) was a celebrated hostess in French society; at age 15 she married a rich old baker and thereafter held a literary and political salon.
Manifiesto de “Martín Fierro” / The Manifesto of Martín Fierro
Printed in the journal Martín Fierro No.4, 15 May 1924, reprinted in [10], but not in [9] or [11]. The journal took the name of the hero (and title) of Latin America’s first great epic poem, written in 1872 by José Hernández. The epic extols the freedom, simplicity and integrity of the gaucho—the cowboy of Argentina’s pampas—and sets these virtues against the artificiality of modern life. At the same time the journal (and manifesto) affirmed the central position for Argentine letters of Rubén Darío (1867-1916), the great Nicaraguan poet and a founder of modernism in Latin American literature.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OLIVERIO GIRONDO (1891-1967) was born into a wealthy family in Buenos Aires.
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