[San Diego, CA]
40 anos de galáxias / galáxias at 40 at the Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association
April 4, 2024, 2:00 pm
at San Diego State University
Haroldo de Campos, one of Brazil’s foremost literary figures of the second half of the twentieth century, is best known for his role as one of the founders of the concrete poetry movement. A tireless innovator, Campos experimented in many fields, including translation and criticism. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication in book form of what is perhaps Campos’s most daring literary experiments—galáxias. Though Campos began writing these pieces of Joycean poetic prose in 1963 and they appeared piecemeal in journals and little magazines the sixties and seventies, he only managed to publish them as a book and in his desired large format in 1984. This roundtable, marking that landmark publication, will seek to reconsider that key avant-garde work and render homage to Campos, 21 years after his passing in 2003. Translators and literary scholars will re-examine aspects of translation, reception, and criticism of this key work of Brazil’s literary avant-garde and share reminiscence and personal memories.