Bachelor Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Literature - Latin America, grade: Pass, course: Poetry and Prose Poems of Alejandra Pizarnik, language: English, abstract: This senior thesis thesis examines the authorial image of Argentine-Jewish poet, Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972). Long thought of as a modern poet with minimal connection to any one tradition, I re-imagine her as a poet of Judaism, language and childhood through close readings of works, many poemas en prosa, written late in her life and after her father's death. This thesis has three chapters: (1) Images of the Artist; (2) New Readings of Pizarnik (Prose) Poems; and (3) Translating Pizarnik (Prose) Poems. In the first chapter I examine notions of Pizarnik created by critics and by the public, then move to re-imagining her as a poet in a new lens. In chapter 2, close-readings of prose poems substantiate those claims made in my re-imagining. Finally, chapter 3 provides annotated translations of five poems, four previously untranslated-Los muertos y la lluvia (The Dead and the Rain), Dificultades barrocas (Baroque Difficulties), Desconfianza (Distrust), Devoci n (Devotion), and the only poem in verse, Poema para el padre (Poem for my Father). My interpretation of Pizarnik is influenced by concepts including, J. Lacan's 'desire, ' Bachelard's 'poetics of internal space, ' Turner's 'liminality, ' and Borges' 'infidelity in translation, ' amongst others. Ultimately, I hope this reading of the complicated poet succeeds in recovering essential aspects of her cuerpo poetico (poetic body of work).
