Octavio Paz, translator of poets

Abstract

Much has been said about Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz. There is no shortage of studies on him as a publisher and a promoter of other literatures. His Spanish translations of William Carlos Williams, Breton, Donne or Pessoa are a clear example of both the scope of his readings and his unique way to match the praxis of translation with his own vision as a theorist. His approach far exceeds the mere transfer from one language into another, thus making of his craft as a translator an exploration of esthetic creation. By bridging the gap that separates the literatures of lands as far apart as England or India, Paz bases his translation strategy on his dictum:  A good translator moves in the opposite direction: his intended destination is a poem analogous although not identical to the original poem. In the previous lines, we have briefly outlined the main contents of an ongoing research project, carried out at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, on Octavio Paz as a poet, and his enormous contributions to translation studies and to world culture.