The Science of Lauralogy

In 1962, ten years before she would take her own life, Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik published what many consider one of her finest works – Árbol de Diana. Within the context of this relatively short poem, a world of interpretation presents itself for the informed reader. For my thesis, I propose an in-depth study of Pizarnik’s poem as it relates to several key issues within the world of poetry. Specifically, I will focus on analyzing the poem first against a technical background and subsequently her use of symbolism amongst the cultural and personal background of the poet at the time of the poem’s publication. Finally, I propose developing a new translation of the poem followed by a detailed analysis that highlights the problematic nature of Pizarnik’s poetry within the context of a study focusing exclusively on her technical use of language.

The first portion of my thesis will involve a theoretical breakdown of the poetic self as it develops throughout the progression of Árbol de Diana. Within this work, Pizarnik, as the physical manifestation of the poet immediately separates this physical self from what becomes her literary poetic self. As the poem progresses, the poetic self is further split creating a version of the poem acting within the poem itself. It is at this point in Árbol de Diana that Pizarnik use of subject points to a deeper questioning of the traditional author-audience, author-work relationships.

Secondly, my thesis will study the cultural and personal space that Pizarnik’s work occupies. Written during an especially tumultuous time in Argentine history, Árbol de Diana exists within the framework of a period of intense questioning and reformulation not only of national identity, but personal identity as well. This unique period of dislocation and disaffection allowed the already isolated Pizarnik to further alienate herself from the literary world she was inherently involved with. Although publicly respected, and very nearly venerated, by her peers during her life, Pizarnik herself acknowledged the feeling that she did not fit comfortably within the context she wrote in, that she alone existed on the fringes of her specific literary framework. Pizarnik wrote of the frustration of existing as an outsider in the world of the masculine Latin American and Spanish worlds of literature. Using this expressed frustration and the repeated symbolism found within Árbol de Diana, my thesis will present an analysis of the poem against this framework of a changing and expanding society and the increasing personal discomfort experienced by the isolated poet who continued to exist on the fringe of her world.

For the final portion of my thesis, I would like to create a new translation of the poem. Upon completing and presenting this translation, I will to offer an analysis of the translation process. In this portion, I will examine some of the key issues a translator faces while working not only with poetry, but specifically with the poetry of the notoriously concise Pizarnik. Especially pertinent to the issue of translating Árbol de Diana is the issue I will address in the first portion of my thesis – that of the technical subject breakdown as the poem progresses. Within this issue, the question of gender proves especially difficult for the translator to reconcile.