Jorge Salavert

James St André (ed.), Thinking through Translation with Metaphors (Manchester and Kinderhook: St Jerome, 2010)

The AALITRA Review, Feb 24, 2012

Download

Vivir la frontera (en desarraigo y con resistencia): la performance poetry de Ania Walwicz

Download

Por la boca muere el pez: El monólogo dramático en la poesía de Bruce Dawe

Espéculo: Revista de Estudios Literarios, 2006

... Tras pedirle disculpas por aparecer vestido con un chándal y una gorra en la cabeza, el verdu... more

Three Spanish Golden Age Sonnets

Download

Review of Tales, Poems and Songs from the Underwater World by Daran Kamali

is a performance poet of Fijian, Wallis and Futuna descent, resident in New Zealand since 1992.Th... more is a performance poet of Fijian, Wallis and Futuna descent, resident in New Zealand since 1992.This bilingual (English and Fijian) edition of his poetry (accompanied by a CD) was published in 2011. Kamali's poetry is a genuine if naïve attempt to connect the ancient Pacific Islander cultures to the twenty-first century peoples who have migrated, mainly to New Zealand and Australia. It is therefore a truthful attempt to reconnect displaced people to their original roots while reaffirming their presence in other lands and settings, and as such, it deserves attention. The book includes seventeen titles. It isn't a book of poetry in the strict sense of the word. A few of those titles are actually the lyrics to some of the songs on the CD; as it stands, the collection is a little uneven: somehow, one feels that hip-hop lyrics on the paper do not convey meaningful ideas as easily and/or eloquently as when accompanied by a beat box. Where Kamali reaches the reader/listener most effectively is in those poems where he reminisces about the ancient culture and traditions that are hardly seen or perceived outside the resorts where mostly Australian and New Zealand tourists flock for cheap accommodation, inexpensive reef diving and sunny hassle-free afternoons by the pool bar. Kamali draws attention to the increasingly precarious state of the Pacific coral reefs ('Ocean of Commotion'), where the harmful effects of overfishing, rubbish dumping, nuclear testing and pollution are compounded by 'earthquakes/ and tsunamis': Humans are selfish creatures they don't care about us [sea creatures] anymore our lives seem insignificant. The migration of his family (and by extension, of many Fijians) is also a subject important to Kamali. 'Immigrants' Story' is dedicated to the Kamali family, and talks of the sacrifice migrants make, yet they never give up their undying love for your people your culture. Apart from the CD, (probably a necessary complement to the book, since the song lyrics are not poems and therefore they cannot really be read as poetry), the book includes Munro Te Whata's cartoon-like illustration of Kamali's 'He has superpowers', as well as the reproduction of a lovely painting by Leahna Gill, who also designed the cover. What I found lacking in Tales, Poems and Songs from the Underwater World is a more ambitious, in-depth exploration of the ancient cultural sources and motifs. Kamali does not appear to be searching for an epic in his poems. If tone, rhythm and symbolism are significant elements of poetry, they are scantily used in this book. There can be no doubt Kamali is a fine performer (the CD is good proof), but his aptitude for live performance does not translate so well onto the page.

Download

Damaging translation: On the Spanish version of Tim Winton's 'Dirt music

ISAA Review, 2011

This paper questions to what extent the ethical principles of accuracy and competence were adhere... more This paper questions to what extent the ethical principles of accuracy and competence were adhered to in the Spanish translation of Tim Winton's novel Dirt Music. A comprehensive analysis of the Spanish text reveals a wide range and a high frequency of errors across two principal aspects of truth in translation. A verdict is reached that the TL text is ultimately a failed translation. Significant facets of Australian English, Australian humour and culture, and Australia as a geographical entity are either inaccurately rendered into Spanish or have simply been wiped out in Spanish version. Given the obvious need of a set of ethical principles to govern the profession of translators, it is fitting to ask why an inexcusable unawareness of Australia caused such an inaccurate TL (Target Language) text to be published. Spanish readers and Australian novelist Tim Winton deserved better, and both the publisher of Musica de la tierra, Destino, and Winton's literary agent should have ensured a quality check process was in place before allowing the text to be printed.

Review of José Luis de Juan’s Napoleon’s Beekeeper (trans. Elizabeth Bryer)

The AALITRA Review, 2020

Download

Review of The Mountain by Drusilla Modjeska

In his 1956 poem titled 'New Guinea', James McCauley wrote about a Bird-shaped island, with secre... more

Download

Poemes de Geoff Page

Una breu panoràmica de la narrativa australiana actual

Caràcters: és una revista de llibres, 2010

Review of and then when the by Dan Disney

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Nov 1, 2013

The title of Dan Disney's 'first full-length collection of poetry' (as described by the back cove... more The title of Dan Disney's 'first full-length collection of poetry' (as described by the back cover) might prepare us for a possible indefiniteness, something like being suspended in midair. At 44 pages in total, and then when the should not really claim status as a full-length collection, even if a reasonably large font-larger than the very small one it is printed inmight have extended its length beyond the 50-page mark. Still, it gives us a tempting foretaste of what Disney might be writing in years to come. The apparently pedestrian character of the title should not deceive anyone, though. From the first poem, the reader will find a poet interested in ideas, not in the banal. Titled 'Standing among the philosophy class', this introductory poem invites us readers to join the author in his quest to hear how we might come to know the world through pure reflection without recourse to experience (1) The author is a member of a collective, but it is his rain-soaked observations the reader is compelled to reflect upon, while … we wait at the doors of an unlocked lecture hall. Coughing has been falling from a cold man's mouth. A huddle of minds in the dark morning apprehend. (1)

Download

Pitfalls, impossibilities and small victories in translating humor: a case study based on Tim Winton's "Cloudstreet" and "Dirt Music

James St. André (ed): <i>Thinking through Translation with Metaphors</i>

Across Languages and Cultures, 2011

On the numerous occasionsmainly at social gatheringsthat I have been asked by people who do not s... more

Download

Four Sonnets

The Philosophical Forum, 2011

Download

Review of José Luis de Juan’s Napoleon’s Beekeeper (trans. Elizabeth Bryer)

The AALITRA Review, 2020

Review of and then when the by Dan Disney

Transnational Literature, 2013

The title of Dan Disney's 'first full-length collection of poetry' (as described by the back cove... more The title of Dan Disney's 'first full-length collection of poetry' (as described by the back cover) might prepare us for a possible indefiniteness, something like being suspended in midair. At 44 pages in total, and then when the should not really claim status as a full-length collection, even if a reasonably large font-larger than the very small one it is printed inmight have extended its length beyond the 50-page mark. Still, it gives us a tempting foretaste of what Disney might be writing in years to come. The apparently pedestrian character of the title should not deceive anyone, though. From the first poem, the reader will find a poet interested in ideas, not in the banal. Titled 'Standing among the philosophy class', this introductory poem invites us readers to join the author in his quest to hear how we might come to know the world through pure reflection without recourse to experience (1) The author is a member of a collective, but it is his rain-soaked observations the reader is compelled to reflect upon, while … we wait at the doors of an unlocked lecture hall. Coughing has been falling from a cold man's mouth. A huddle of minds in the dark morning apprehend. (1)

Download

Three Spanish Golden Age Sonnets

It is generally recognised that the Spanish language reached its literary pinnacle of achievement... more

Download

The AALITRA Review A JOURNAL OF LITERARY TRANSLATION

Download

Review of Montebello by Robert Drewe

Transnational Literature, 2014

Perhaps for those born decades after the early Cold War the possibility of an all-out atomic war,... more Perhaps for those born decades after the early Cold War the possibility of an all-out atomic war, which would bring irreversible mutual destruction to the then two geopolitical blocs, never felt too real, but for the people who were raised in the 1950s and 60s such an end was indeed plausible and too credible for comfort. Perhaps not many Australians are aware of the nuclear testing the British conducted on the remote Montebello archipelago in the early 1950s. Prime Minister Menzies gave the British military virtually carte blanche to do whatever they wanted, and in the course of a few years several nuclear explosions devastated the main islands of the Montebellos. Apart from annihilating wildlife, the radioactivity would eventually claim the lives of many shorts-and-sandalsclad Australian servicemen, who were exposed to the blastsbasically used as lab-rats by our British friends. Montebello is kind of a sequel memoir to The Shark Net (2000). I found its narrative pace and its openness truly enjoyable, even though some of the episodes interspersed within the whole narrative seem oddly placed if not outright out of place. Drewe has a great sense of humour which, combined with his vivid descriptions of not only the Montebellos but also other parts of Western Australia he mentions, makes for a highly pleasant reading. He has the sharpness of an investigative journalist while adroitly meandering from childhood memories to teenage angst to adulthood, as well as briefly quibbling on too-hot-to-handle issues of contemporary Australia. He can also allude to his more personal fixations. The introductory chapter to Montebello is indeed a quirky story of a perilous encounter with a brown snake on 'a dark and stormy night' (1). Armed with a barbecue spatula and extremely worried about the possibility that the reptile will enter his daughter's bedroom, he vanquishes it. The episode is narrated tongue-in-cheek, just as any close shave with danger can be regarded as humorous in hindsight. Yet Drewe sees it as a defining moment. Possibly one of the most important traits any writer must have is the ability to laugh at himself or herself, and Drewe is wryly good at it. The snake adventure gives way to his admission to his obsession with islands. He explains his love for islands as partly the result of the literature he was exposed to as a child: 'Islands had loomed as powerfully in my life as they had in my imagination. As a child I was drawn to castaway stories' (39). He naturally mentions the classics that continue to capture every child's imagination: Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, The Coral Island and Swiss Family Robinson, but also The Island of Dr Moreau and Lord of the Flies. Yet it was the small Rottnest Island off Perth that seemed to clinch Drewe's heart for good and converted him to islophilia: 'my islomania soared when as a teenager I discovered Rottnest Island … where West Australians lost their virginity … they (well, I) imbued this particular desert island twenty kilometres off the mainland with a sensual quality not immediately evident to foreigners or Eastern Staters' (43). When he finally gets the nod to join a crew of government ecologists on a species repopulation project on the Montebellos, Drewe makes the most of this perfect opportunity to write a memoir. His observations give added ironic value to the narrative account of heir expeditions and experiences on the island camp:: alcohol is never far from your mind here. Seeing there were few named features on the charts to aid their navigation during the bomb tests, the British took it on themselves to name the Montebellos' bays. They named them all after booze: Hock,

Download

Review of Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

Download

Uploads

Papers by Jorge Salavert

Log In