São Paulo – The fourth lecture in the Cycle of Meetings on Arab-Islamic History and Culture will be themed Jamil Al-Mansur Haddad, the Poet of Borders: Between Eastern Literature and Brazilian Poetry, with Christina Stephano de Queiroz. She will speak at 7 pm on Wednesday, August 22 in the auditorium of bookstore Martins Fontes on Avenida Paulista, 509, 2nd floor, São Paulo. The event is held by Lente Cultural with support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, and registrations are open.
According to Queiroz, the lecture will deal with how the Brazilian poet’s bibliography evolved over time, evincing the dialogue between Brazilian literary historiography and the imaginary of the Middle East. “I will center on Haddad’s biographic profile in connection with Brazilian literature at that point in time, showcasing his most ambivalent and paradoxical books from each period,” she explained. She also said the poet was deemed controversial, in that although his poems featured regular verses, their subjects were subversive for the time, including erotic and political content.
Haddad used to write in Portuguese. A physician by training, he was a French, English and Arabic translator. He was responsible for the first Portuguese translation of Charles-Pierre Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil in the 1950s. according to Queiroz, Haddad’s literary career spanned over 50 years, and he was regarded as a ‘minor’ or ‘unclassifiable’ poet, since his work did not fit any literary genre. “His output was varied and heterodoxic, dealing with the imaginary of the Middle East, aspects of Orientalism, politically- and socially-engaged poetry, religiosity and even surrealistic poems,” she said.
The lecture is intended for anyone interested in Arab culture, migration, history, poetry or biographies, as well as researchers working with literary history, modernism, the 1945 generation, or controversial figures from Brazilian literature.
The price of admission is BRL 45. Find out more or register on the Lente Cultural website.
Quick facts
Cycle of Meetings on Arab-Islamic History and Culture – Jamil Al-Mansur Haddad, the Poet of Borders: Between Eastern Literature and Brazilian Poetry
August 22, 7 pm to 9:30 pm
Bookstore Martins Fontes Paulista – Auditorium
Avenida Paulista, 509, 2nd floor – São Paulo – SP
www.lentecultural.com.br
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum