PThe post-doctoral project of writer Cristiane Grando, supervised by professor Jorge Coli, from the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH) at Unicamp, involves the translation of four works by writer Hilda Hilst (1930-2004) into French. In addition to publishing 120 poems from the books “Amavisse”, “Alcoólicas”, “Da morte. Minimal Odes”, “Songs of the Nameless and of Parties”, Cristiane studies the manuscripts of these works to find out to what extent the writer's creative processes could dialogue with the translator's modus operandi. The research also involves the writer's participation in the organization of the “Hilda Hilst Fund”, of the “Alexandre Eulalio” Cultural Documentation Center (Cedae), which belongs to the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) at Unicamp.

Graduated in Literature at USP, where she also completed postgraduate studies, Cristiane, supervised by Philippe Willemart, has been studying the work of Hilda Hilst for 10 years – including a master's degree (1998) and doctorate (2003) on the author of “Amavisse”, time enough to become a reference on the subject. “I am very sought after by students, researchers and even actors who perform Hilstian plays and texts.” The researcher remembers that, little by little, Hilda's work is becoming more widespread. “When I started my master's project, in 1995, there were only four doctorates or master's degrees in total on her work. Today it is difficult to catalog all research. Furthermore, many universities have already introduced Hilda Hilst's work in literature courses and even in the entrance exam”.

Saying she is “in love” with the writer’s work, Cristiane’s first objective is to continue studying Hilda’s works and deepen her research in genetic criticism (literary studies of modern and contemporary manuscripts). The search for a new approach and her affinity with France, where she lived twice, led Cristiane to the challenge of pouring the works. The revisions of the translated texts will be defined in France, where Cristiane returns next year, with the aim of carrying out work in partnership with the French poet and professor Espérance Aniesa. After completing her post-doctorate, Cristiane goes in search of a publisher that will publish her work in a bilingual edition. Some of Hilda Hilst's works have already been published in France, including by the prestigious Gallimard.

Cristiane lived with Hilda in the last years of the writer's life. She remembers that, upon finishing her master's degree on “Amavisse”, she took the printed work to the poet. “Hilda cried with emotion, perhaps because she identified with the artistic side of the project”, recalls Cristiane, who says her influences, in addition to Hilda herself, are Baudelaire, Manuel Bandeira and Drummond.

For Cristiane, the originality of her research consists in observing the creative processes of the author and translator. “To translate poetry it is very important to be a poet; It's easier to work and rethink the creation and translation processes. I always like translating my own poems because I have more creative freedom, which ends up influencing the translation processes as a whole.”

Already thinking about her post-doctorate, Cristiane translated her latest book of poems “Fluxus”, recently released, into French, an experience also shared with Espérance Aniesa. “Writing and translating are very different processes because in translation you start from a text that already exists. Freedom is not total. It is necessary, with experience, to conquer it little by little. In my postdoctoral project, it is a challenge to translate into a language that is not my mother tongue”. The poems in “Fluxus” were also translated into Spanish by the Chilean writer, translator and illustrator Leo Lobos and into English by the American professor Levana Saxon. Leo Lobos also participates in “Fluxus” as an illustrator.

The researcher's project of delving into the world of translation was consolidated after meeting Lobos, during an international residency promoted by Unesco, which awarded the Unesco-Aschberg creation grant to the best artistic projects, evaluated by a commission in Paris. During the course of the project, they both lived in the French city of Marnay-sur-Seine, between September 2002 and January 2003. From their coexistence, the book “Caminantes” was born, which brings together poems by Cristiane written in French and Portuguese, translated by Lobos at the Spanish.

Lobos, who has extensive poetic production in Chile, reveals his admiration for Brazilian literature, classifying it as “extraordinary” in the Latin American context. “Unfortunately, the language barrier prevents it from being better known. Brazil has a fascinating cultural richness. For me, translating Cristiane’s poems into Spanish is a very interesting exercise”, argues the poet.

Virtual – The rapid spread of the Internet became, for Cristiane Grando, an ally in her endeavor. The writer remembers that, with the advent of the worldwide web, poems can be read in any corner of the planet. “Publishing a book in multiple languages ​​gives you the opportunity to migrate it to one website. With this, you gain readers all over the world”, celebrates the researcher, who advocates recreation as a fundamental tool in translation.

The writer also dabbles in photography. Recently, Unicamp's Casa do Lago hosted the exhibition “Crônicas do Cotidiano”, which brought together photographs of you and Jorge Bercht, engineer-architect trained at USP, based in Cerquilho, a city in the interior of São Paulo, where Cristiane was born and develops activities in the area cultural management in partnership with Bercht and Lobos.

A poem by
Cristiane Grando^*

shrub
that I am made
of flesh, bones, blood?

not

I am wind, rain, fire, nothing

^*Extracted from the book "Fluxus"