I discovered Federico Federici (aka Antonio Diavoli ) by way of his posts on Asemic & Concrete Poetry. He has a rich fascinating blog. While putting his post, Da “Per innata difesa (variazioni sul tema dell’umore)” – 03.11.2004, through a Google translation, I decided to experiment a bit.
I first did a translation directly from the Italian to English. I then decided to move the Italian to English by way of Haitian Creole to Javanese to Japanese. As syntactical structure, idiom, and vocabulary shift, the translation moves even further into the metaphorical. Federico Federici’s language, already, rich with images & metaphor, has the literal & linear components stretched and reconfigured, as the filter of multiple software translations interpret the text. Meaning is added, subtracted, and recalibrated within an implied space, where text, linguistics, and human expression is calculated by software.
I took the screen shots and used them to create Asemic Snapshots of Translating Poetic Truth. The whole process becomes an example of the Mass Media principle of Necro-media, Mass Media consuming other forms of media and turning them into content.
The final outcome is to wonder if we have moved closer to understanding or further away. Has new meaning been generated by crating different media context ? If so, how does it inform the original media text ? Consider how this process functions in the current world of social media, reshaping the context of politics, social norms, and personal & public interaction.
