Poet-translators as double link in the global literary system

Abstract

Based on the diachronic and international study of American Modernism and its translation into Spanish, this article aims to analyze the complementary role of poet-translators as a double link in the global literary system. On the one hand, when translating other authors, poet-translators introduce them to a new audience. On the other hand, their translations complement their own poetic creations. While translating poetry, poet-translators assimilate the original poet’s style and images, which will later filter in their own poetic works. But, at the same time, these literary agents — consciously or unconsciously — introduce their own style marks into their translations. In order to illustrate the analysis, those people whose role as poet-translators stands out have been chosen among all the translators of Modernist poets into Spanish. Added to this discussion is commentary on some examples of Modernist poets who were also translators, including Yvor Winters, Marianne Moore, Langston Hughes, Hilda Doolittle, and Ezra Pound.