Andrés Holguín and French poetry: A Brief Reading of Mallarmé in Translation

Abstract

The Spanish reception of Stéphane Mallarmé's works revolves around four key-moments characterized by a certain critical success and the circulation of translations in Spanish. Between 1940 and 1960, Mallarmé’s poetry appeared in the Anthology Poesía Francesa edited by the Colombian poet Andrés Holguín (1954). What is interesting in this anthology is that it presents a permanent articulation between the translated poems and introductory notes about each poet. Accordingly, it develops two levels of critical reception and (re)presentation of French poetry. First of all, this article analyses the socio-cultural environment in which the anthology was published: the cultural atmosphere, the situation of literary publishing, some circumstances surrounding the elaboration of the anthology, reflections about translation during this period, etc. Second, the article seeks to shed light on Andrés Holguín's identity and his objectives as well as the specifics of the Anthology. Finally, the article tackles Mallarmé's "dissolved" presence in the collection, Holguín's critical commentaries and the most important features of the textual transfer of the three translated poems.