Haroldo de Campos in Conversation (review)

Haroldo de Campos in Conversation is the latest of four books dedicated to the memory of the dynamic and internationally renowned poet, translator, essayist, and founder of Brazilian concrete poetry, Haroldo de Campos (1929-2003). The first was Lisa Block de Behar's Haroldo de Campos, don de poesía: ensayos críticos sobre su obra (Lima: Fondo Editorial UCSS; Embajada del Brasil en Lima, 2004; rev. ed. Montevideo: Linardi & Risso; Fondo Editorial UCSS; Embajada del Brasil en Montevideo, 2009). This volume in Spanish was followed by the magnificently illustrated Céu acima:Para um 'tombeau' de Haroldo de Campos, organized by Leda Tenório da Motta in São Paulo (Editora Perspectiva, 2005) and by my own Haroldo de Campos: A Dialogue with the Brazilian Concrete Poet (Oxford: Centre for Brazilian Studies, 2005). All these books are anthological and, except for the Brazilian, refer to academic conferences featuring Haroldo de Campos, his thought, poetics and criticism. Block de Behar's project references a conference in Salta, Uruguay, in 1991, while the two volumes published in England spring from a joint Oxford/Yale conference in 1999, marking Haroldo's 70th birthday. All three volumes draw on many earlier materials, whether theoretical essays on concrete poetry, descriptions of his work by distinguished critics and authors, or elegiac remembrances of Haroldo's poetical magic. Papers presented at the core academic events to which the books refer are few in the context of many-sided descriptions of and writings by the author contained in each book: the current volume includes, for example, introductions to one of the major if neglected creative writers in Latin America, examples of his work translated into English, interpretive essays, interviews bringing his voice to life, Haroldo's own combative and provocative challenges on the topics of aesthetics and the role of the artist in 'underdeveloped' countries, and special evocations of the man and his genius by notable figures.

While some content is common to the four books, each has an individuality of focus and editorial presentation that makes them complementary and even essential volumes for a library or personal collection on Haroldo de Campos. Again with the exception of Céu acima, all are limited editions: Haroldo de Campos in Conversation is so presented, in 100 hardback and 100 paperback numbered copies. Block de Behar's 2004 edition is sold out, and the Oxford 2005 and Montevideo 2009 volumes are of limited number and no longer in print. Their editorial situation turns these books into even more poignant evocations of the creative figure whom so many of us read and remember as an inspiring creator and mover of arts, letters, and ideas from his native São Paulo to the world. These volumes reassure us that our own impressions and devotion are shared by such major literary and intellectual figures as Umberto Eco, Jacques Derrida, Severo Sarduy, Octavio Paz, and others who interacted with Haroldo.

The original contributions in Haroldo de Campos in Conversation consist of the preface by Ambassador João Almino, the introductory 'Woven Memory' by the editors, the 'Post(trans)Scriptum' by McGuirk, and seven pieces drawn from the 1999 Oxford conference. These include two interviews that justify the volume's title: 'Haroldo de Campos in Dialogue with Jacques Roubaud and Helder Macedo' and 'Haroldo de Campos in Conference with Nicholas Zurburgg, João Almino, Else R. P. Vieira, Bernard McGuirk, and Luiz Costa Lima'. There follow Haroldo's two original essays from the conference, 'The Ex-Centric Viewpoint' (translated by the author with Stella Tagnin) and 'A Word in Response to the Debate on Cultural Dependency in Brazil' (their only sources in any language), along with two essays appearing for the first time, Nicholas Zurbrugg's 'Programming Paradise: HC, Concrete Poetry and the Multimedia Avant-Garde' and McGuirk's 'Laughin' Again He's Awake: Haroldo de Campos à l'oreille de l'autre celte'. All the other essays had...