Arts Multilingual Week Poetry, Short Films, and Multimedia Projects by FHIS Students



The Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies (FHIS) is proud to showcase the work of some of its Spanish (SPAN 401, taught by Dr. Maria Escobar Trujillo) and Italian (ITAL 201, taught by Chiara Falangola) students, who participated in the Untranslatable Exhibition Contest and the Multilingual Poetry Slam Contest as part of Arts Multilingual Week—many of whom placed in the Top 3 in their respective categories amongst over 50 participants.


Untranslatable Exhibition Contest

Students were invited to submit short essays or media projects to thematize how some words are not easily translated into other languages and retain their distinct meaning and purpose only in their original form.

Project: Short Film titled "Proyecto intraducibles (Lost in Translation)"
Submission by: Emerson Castaneda, Undergraduate Student (SPAN 401)
Placement:
 First Place

Project: Multimedia Project titled "Amor traducido (Love Translated)"
Submission by: A. Mylvaganam, Undergraduate Student (SPAN 401)
Placement:
 First Place

Translation Project


Multilingual Poetry Slam Contest

Students were invited to perform poetry on stage in a combination of languages. There were two contest categories: ‘Original Poem & Translation’ and ‘Original Translation’.

Original Poem & Translation

Submission by: Inbar Av-Shalom, Undergraduate Student (SPAN 401)
Category: Original Poem & Translation
Placement:
Second Place

El tofu en la selva

“Tofu”
Pasé mucho tiempo buscando su rima
Nofu, cofu, shofu,
No encontré nada.
Un año
La busqué
En las calles, la busqué
Tomadas de las manos, la busqué
Conduciendo, la busqué
Incluso en mis sueños de la selva, la busqué.
Eventualmente me olvidé de ella por algún tiempo
Pero en un instante la imagen reapareció

En mi mente.

"El tofu”
Estaba caminando
rodeada de gente
En ese momento ninguno de ellos podía adivinar
que un bloque de tofu
reemplazó mi cerebro
Como un tumor en crecimiento lento.
Ese día decidí a consultar a doctor Google
“¿Qué rima con tofu?”
El tratamiento fue:
“Tú, bambú, emú”
Me curé, pensé.
Podría extirpar el tumor de tofu.

Hasta que
Me senté a escribir este poema

Una verdadera rima, se dice,
Tiene que emparejar
Cada sonido que sigue a la sílaba tónica
Por eso este problema sigue siendo crónico
Es como buscar una rima en la selva amazónica
Mira cuantas especies de ranas la contiene ...

Pero ¿encontrar una pareja exacta
cuyas huellas dactilares sean las mismas?
Es un trabajo imposible
Entonces esconde el tofu invisible
De vuelta en la selva

Pero realmente, ¿puede ser escondido
donde no le pertenece?

Entonces, rodeado por sus pares falsos
Espera, pudriéndose

The Tofu In The Jungle

“Tofu”
I spent a lot of time searching for its rhyme
Nofu, cofu, shofu,
I didn’t find anything.
One year
I searched for it
In the streets, I searched for it
Holding hands, I searched for it
Driving, I searched for it
Even in my dreams of the jungle, I searched for it.
Eventually I forgot about it (for some time)
But in an instant the image reappeared

In my mind.

“The tofu”
I was walking
surrounded by people
In that moment none of them could guess
that a block of tofu
replaced my brain
Like a slow-growing tumour
That day I decided to consult doctor Google
“What rhymes with tofu?”
The treatment was:
“You, bamboo, emu”
I was cured, I thought
I could excise the tofu tumour.

Until
I sat down to write this poem

A true rhyme, it is said,
Has to match
Every sound that follows the stressed syllable
That’s why this problem remains chronic
It’s like searching for a rhyme in the Amazonian jungle
Look how many species of frogs it contains ...

Yet finding an exact pair
whose fingerprints are the same?
The job is impossible
So it hides the tofu invisible
Back again in the jungle

But can it really be hidden
where it doesn’t belong?

So, surrounded by its false pairs
It waits, rotting

Submission by: David Chen, Undergraduate Student (ITAL 201)
Category: Original Poem & Translation
Placement:
Second Place

 

Il Pesce, il Pescatore e il Mare

Arrendendoti al mare
Ti sei perso

Ma mi hai trovato
Mi dai la caccia - mentre

Infuria all'imbrunire la tempesta
Ha sete di pioggia la terra
La pioggia frusta il mare
Striscia verso il mare il fulmine

Tuono dopo tuono
Più forte, ancora più forte
Mi hai intrappolato nella carne
Mi tiri vicino

Quel dolce odore di terra
Quella gioia nel tuo sguardo
Mi dibatto per la paura
 - applaude il tuono

Accecato, rilasciato
 - si spezza la lenza
Colpo di frusta
Mi libero

Sei distratto
 - sempre incurante
Nuoto via
Ingoiato dal mare

Abbandoni la barca
Ti tuffi dietro di me
Scendo più sotto
Tu mi insegui

Sono implacabile
 - imbattibile
Nuoto verso l'alto
Penetrando la superficie

Boccheggiando per la vita
Desidero l'aria
Salendo sulla barca
Divento la tua paura

Ti ho dato la caccia
Ti ho trovato - mentre

Ti sei perso
Arrendendoti al mio mare

The Fish, The Fisherman and The Sea

Surrendering to the sea
You became lost

But you found me
You hunt me - while

The storm rages at nightfall
The land thirst for rainfall
Rain whips the sea
Lightning crawls to the sea

Thunder after thunder
Louder and louder
You snared into my flesh
You pull me in close

That sweet earthy smell
That joy in your eyes
I thrash in fear
 - thunder claps

Blinded, released
 - the line snaps
Whiplash from momentum
I break free

You’re distracted
 - Always careless
I swim away
Swallowed into the sea

Surrendering the boat
You dive after me
I dive further below
You chase after me

I’m relentless
 - Never outwitted
I swim upward
Breaking through surface

Gasping for life
I long for air
Climbing onto the boat
I become your fear

I hunted you
I found you - while

You became lost
Surrendering to my sea

Submission by: Pedro de Faria Santos, Undergraduate Student (ITAL 201)
Category: Original Poem & Translation
Placement:
Third Place

Il tramonto mostra
un Paradiso, che
pochi vivono
The sunset shows
a paradise, that
few live.
O pôr do sol
mostra um paraíso,
que poucos vivem.

Submission by: Amanda Dekker, Undergraduate Student (ITAL 201)
Category: Original Poem & Translation
Placement:
Third Place

Dormo nel mio letto
Il mondo fuori
Ulula
I sleep in my bed
The world outside
Howls

Submission by: Junjie Bai, Undergraduate Student (SPAN 401)
Category: Original Poem & Translation

La Última Mirada

Azul el cielo, verde la hoja, rubí el sol,
Blanca la luna, en el lago inmenso,
Donde ella estaba, brillando intenso.
Desconocido rostro, conocida alma.

Belleza lunar en primavera florecida,
hasta Theia sintió placer al descubrirla,
pero cadenas tenía yo puestas,
y no pude acercarme a amarla.

Extraña razón, consolidado el amor,
sin poder dormir, sin tener hambre,
en llanto, estando pálido, corazón roto,
borroso su rostro, ya, no la pude recordar.

Al eclipsado cielo iba a desafiar,
como Hou Yi derribando nueve soles,
él por la humanidad, y yo, por mí mismo,
solo, para esa última mirada.

The Last Gaze

Sky blue, green leaf, ruby the sun,
white the moon, in the immense lake,
there she was, shining brightly.
Unknown face, familiar soul.

Lunar beauty flourished in spring,
Even Theia, delighted in her radiance.
But the chains had restrained me,
and I could not approach to love her.

Strange reason, consolidated love,
unable to sleep, unable to eat,
in tears, pale, and heart-broken,
blurry her image, recall her, I no longer could.

The overshadowed sky I dared to challenge,
Like Hou Yi taking down 9 suns,
He did it for humanity, and I, for myself,
only, for that last gaze.

Original Translation

Submission by: Hannah Foster, Undergraduate Student (SPAN 401)
Category: Original Translation
Placement:
First Place

Las Malandrinas

Johnny, échate un corrido pa' las viejas
Para las malandrinas
A todas las cuñadas (ay)
Y las malandrinas y todas mis chacalosas
Y dice así
Nos dicen las malandrinas
Porque hacemos mucho ruido
Porque tomamos cerveza
Y nos gusta el mejor vino
En los salones de baile
Siempre pedimos corridos
No somos como las popis
Que se paran mucho el cuello
Nos gusta la rancherada
De nada tenemos miedo
Y le damos gusto al gusto
Aunque otras no estén de acuerdo
Cántenle a las malandrinas
Juan Rivera y sus corridos
Olfateando con Los Razos
Entre perico y perico
Que canten Voces del Rancho
Y el borracho de Lupillo
Lupillo
Aquí hay tres mujeres, ¡vente!
El más
Cuando se trata de amores
Nos gustan muy bien vestidos
Con sus botas y tejanas
Elegantes y atrevidos
Cuando les llegue la cuenta
Que no se hagan los dormidos
Nos gusta andarnos paseando
Nos encantan las loqueras
Conocemos bien el mundo
No somos como las güeras
Que de todito se asustan
No andamos con chifladeras (cántenla conmigo)
Cántenle a las malandrinas
Juan Rivera y sus corridos
Olfateando con Los Razos
Entre perico y perico
Que canten Voces del Rancho
Y el borracho de Lupillo

The Degenerates

Johnny, make a song for the ladies
For the Degenerates
To all the sister-in-laws
And the degenerates and all my party animals
And they say this
They call us, the degenerates
Because we make a lot of noise
Because we drink a lot of beer
And we like the best wine
In the dance halls
We always ask for “corridos”
We are not like spoiled girls
Who Brag without merit
We like the “ranches”
We fear nothing
And we like to treat ourselves
Although there are those who disagree
Sing for the degenerates
Juan Rivera and his corridos
Snorting with Los Razos
Line, after line
That sing the voices of the Ranch
And the Drunk of Lupillo
Lupillo
Here there are 3 women, come
The most
When it’s comes to love
We like them well dressed
With boots and cowboy hats
Elegant and daring
When they get the bill
Don’t let them be asleep
We like to move around
We love the madness
We know the world well
We are not like those White chicks
That get scared of everything
We don’t mess around (sing it with me)
Sing it for the degenerates
Juan River and his corridos
Snorting with Los Razos
Line after line
Sing voices of the Ranch
And the drunk of Lupillo

Submission by: Mason Goldman, Undergraduate Student (SPAN 401)
Category: Original Translation
Placement:
Third Place

On the Western Front
Alfred Noyes (1916)
(Part I)I found a dreadful acre of the dead,
Marked with the only sign on earth that saves.
The wings of death were hurrying overhead,
The loose earth shook on those unquiet graves;For the deep gun-pits, with quick stabs of flame,
Made their own thunders of the sunlit air;
Yet, as I read the crosses, name by name,
Rank after rank, it seemed that peace was there;Sunlight and peace, a peace too deep for thought,
The peace of tides that underlie our strife,
The peace with which the moving heavens are fraught,
The peace that is our everlasting life.The loose earth shook. The very hills were stirred.
The silence of the dead was all I heard.
I En el frente occidental
Alfred Noyes (1916)
(Parte I)Encontré un terrible acre de los muertos,
Marcado con la única señal en la Tierra que salva.
Las alas de la Muerte se daban prisa en lo alto,
El suelo suelto temblaba sobre esas tumbas intranquilas;Ya que los cañones, con puñaladas rápidas de llama,
Hicieron sus propios estruendos del aire soleado;
Aun así, mientras leía las cruces, nombre por nombre,
Rango tras rango, parecía que la tranquilidad estaba allí;El sol y la tranquilidad, una tranquilidad demasiado profunda para el pensamiento,
La tranquilidad de las corrientes que forman la base de nuestro conflicto,
La tranquilidad de la que el móvil cielo está llena,
La tranquilidad que es nuestra vida eterna.El suelo suelto temblaba. Las mismas colinas se sacudían.
Yo oía solo el silencio de los muertos.

Submission by: Anshul Kulkarni, Undergraduate Student (SPAN 401)
Category: Original Translation

पिघले नीलम सा बहता हुआ यह समा ां जावेद अख्तर

पिघले नीलम सा बहता हुआ यह समाां,

नीली नीली सी खामोशियाां।

ना कहीां हैं ज़मीां, ना कहीां आसमाां। सरसरातीां हुई टहननयााँ, िपियााँ कह रही हैं कक बस एक तम हो यहााँु            ;

शसर्फ म हैं ाँ, मेरी सासां हें ैं, और मेरी धड़कनें ऐसी गहराइयााँ, ऐसी तनहाइयााँ,

और म, शसर्फ मैं          ।ैं

अिने होन ेिे मझको यकीन आ गया।ु

The moment flows like molten sapphire – Javed Akhtar, Translated by Anshul Kulkarni

This moment flows like molten sapphire, This blue silence. No earth below me, No sky above me.

These rustling branches, leaves

Tell me “It’s just you”;

Only I am, only my breaths are, and my beating heart.

Such depths,

Such solitude, And I, only I.

Now I believe I am.

El momento fluye como el zafiro fundido –

Javed Akhtar, Traducido por Anshul

Kulkarni

El momento fluye como el zafiro fundido, Esta calma azul. No hay tierra debajo, Ni cielo sobre mí.

Estas ramas susurrantes, hojas

Me dicen “Es solo tú”;

Solo yo, solo mis respiros, y mis latidos

Tal profundidad, Tal soledad, Y sólo yo. Existo ya.

Il momento fluisce come zaffiro fuso – Javed Akhtar, Tradotto da Anshul Kulkarni

Il momento fluisce come zaffiro fuso, Questa calma azzurra.

Non c'è terra sotto di me, Non c’è il cielo sopra di me.

Questi rami fruscianti, le foglie

Mi dicono "Ci sei solo tu";

Solo io, solo il mio respiro e il mio battito.

Questa profondità, Questa solitudine, E solo io. Esisto.