Photographed Metaphors: Meaning, Reference, and Translation in Manoel de Barros

Perez Trujillo, Axel

Abstract

This article explores Brazilian poet Manoel de Barros’ collaboration with photographer Adriana Lafer in Arquitetura do silêncio (2015). The meta discourse on language that emerges in the book challenges meaning, reference, and translation as a means to transfigure the modes of seeing the Pantanal biome in Brazil, shifting our focus to the insignificant and abandoned things strewn across the ground. By reading Barros alongside Frege and Quine, this article argues in favour of the profound awareness of language in the Brazilian poet’s work, an awareness that culminates in the blurring of words and images in Arquitetura.

Citation

Perez Trujillo, A. (2017). Photographed Metaphors: Meaning, Reference, and Translation in Manoel de Barros. TranscUlturAl, 9(1), 105-122. https://doi.org/10.21992/t9hd02

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 22, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 6, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 6, 2018
• Journal: Transcultural (Edmonton)
• Print ISSN: 1920-0323
• Publisher: University of Alberta
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 105-122
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.21992/t9hd02