Paul Muldoon: Translations

Abstract

The present paper aims at a snippet within the poetic project of Northern-Irish poet Paul Muldoon: his translations. Since the beginning of his career, the poet showed interest in investigating the process of translation. However, it can be noticed how the thought of what is and what might be a translation for Muldoon has been modified and expanded throughout his career. We call attention to the recurrence of a mechanism used by him to give title to many of his poems – in eight of his twelve books of poetry released so far – that, here, will be called “author: work”. At first, the paper occupies itself in presenting this aspect of the muldoonesque work, as well as investigating in which way the movements made by the poet in the construction of his translational thought operate. Secondly, a reflection on the possible ways of thinking and executing translations for these poems by Muldoon is made, along with a presentation of poetic translations into Portuguese for four of the poems mentioned in the paper.