Poetry multilevel translation and the solution of a situated and ill-defined problem

Abstract

The notions of “multilevel”, “level of description and organization” are quite familiar for the studies of complex systems. Examples include physico-chemical, biological, computational, socio-economic, historical, and cultural systems. Poems are complex phenomena and can be described as multilevel hierarchical systems. Different levels of description of a poem correspond to different sets of components, structures and processes (e.g., context, lexicon, syntax, prosody, rhythm, typography) that asymmetrically restrict each others. We suggest the notion of “multilevel translation” to characterize an operation whose focus is a solution of a situated problem. The operation involves selection and re-creation of a hierarchical, multilevel system of constraints. This perspective allows us to approach the translation of a poem as the solution of a multilevel, situated and ill-defined problem. We describe the steps of this operation, and we exemplify it by the translation of the poem “The Expiration”, by Augusto de Campos.