Noigandres - (Verbal Arts: Studies in Poetics) by Antonio Sergio Bessa

About the Book

Explores a key moment in Brazilian modernism, supplemented with primary texts by Augusto de Campos, Décio Pignatari, Haroldo de Campos, and Ezra Pound.

Book Synopsis

The Noigandres group was one of the key movements in Brazilian modernism. Bessa's account works through the specific poetic innovations that are the hallmark of the concrete poetics the group developed. These include their unprecedented reevaluation of Brazilian literary history, their distinctive exploration of graphic space inspired by emerging studies on cybernetics, and their embrace of a range of Modernist traditions, from Mallarmé's vision of poetry as a constellation of words, to Joyce's concept of the "verbivocovisual," to Pound's writings about the Chinese ideogram.

Bessa's account begins with the core traits of concrete poetry developed by the Noigandres poets throughout the 1950s (the so-called "heroic phase" of concretism) and continues to the poetic experiments the group undertook after the military coup of 1964 in Brazil. The book concludes with translations of key primary texts: essays by the poets Augusto de Campos, Décio Pignatari and Haroldo de Campos and correspondence between the three poets and Ezra Pound.

From the Back Cover

"Bessa persuasively situates the Noigandres group--the missing link between Modernism and the poetics of our digital age--within an artistic and philosophical lineage. Providing an accessible and incisive summary of the theoretical background and the particular cultural conditions of post-war Brazil, Bessa's book is the ideal guide for understanding this novel, challenging, and important poetry."--Craig Dworkin, author of The Sound of Thinking: A Listener's Companion to Conceptual Music

"Bessa renews our understanding of the Noigandres poets. His readings, with an eye on contemporary concerns, will introduce the movement to new generation of scholars."-- Marília Librandi, author of Writing by Ear: Clarice Lispector and the Aural Novel

The Noigandres group was one of the key movements in Brazilian modernism. Bessa's account works through the specific poetic innovations that are the hallmark of the concrete poetics the group developed. These include their unprecedented reevaluation of Brazilian literary history, their distinctive exploration of graphic space inspired by emerging studies on cybernetics, and their embrace of a range of Modernist traditions, from Mallarmé's vision of poetry as a constellation of words, to Joyce's concept of the "verbivocovisual," to Pound's writings about the Chinese ideogram.

Bessa's account begins with the core traits of concrete poetry developed by the Noigandres poets throughout the 1950s (the so-called "heroic phase" of concretism) and continues to the poetic experiments the group undertook after the military coup of 1964 in Brazil. The book concludes with translations of key primary texts: essays by the poets Augusto de Campos, Décio Pignatari and Haroldo de Campos and correspondence between the three poets and Ezra Pound.

Antonio Sergio Bessa, is a scholar of concrete poetry and the author of Öyvind Fahlström: The Art of Writing (2008). He has edited several volumes on concrete poetry including Novas: Selected Writings of Haroldo de Campos, (with Odile Cisneros, 2007), and Mary Ellen Solt: Towards a Theory of Concrete Poetry (2010).

Review Quotes

"Bessa persuasively situates the Noigandres group--the missing link between Modernism and the poetics of our digital age--within an artistic and philosophical lineage. Providing an accessible and incisive summary of the theoretical background and the particular cultural conditions of post-war Brazil, Bessa's book is the ideal guide for understanding this novel, challenging, and important poetry."---Craig Dworkin, author of The Sound of Thinking: A Listener's Companion to Conceptual Music

"Bessa renews our understanding of the Noigandres poets. His readings, with an eye on contemporary concerns, will introduce the movement to new generation of scholars."---Marília Librandi, author of Writing by Ear: Clarice Lispector and the Aural Novel

About the Author

Antonio Sergio Bessa, is a scholar of concrete poetry and the author of Öyvind Fahlström: The Art of Writing (Northwestern University Press, 2008). He has edited several volumes on concrete poetry including Novas: Selected Writings of Haroldo de Campos (Northwestern University Press, 2007, in collaboration with Odile Cisneros), and Mary Ellen Solt: Towards a Theory of Concrete Poetry (OEI, Stockholm, 2010).