Research Symposium

BIO

Joseph Alonso is an honors student at Florida State University studying political science, religion, and Spanish. Joseph has been recognized as a Mas Family Scholar for his academic and community successes, and as a Silver Knight Nominee for his work in the community, expanding access to Speech & Debate to underresourced schools. Joseph is a part of the FSU Speech & Debate team, being recognized as a nationally awarded debater. Joseph is also a high school Speech & Debate coach, working with students in a variety of events to enhance research, presentation, and rhetorical skills. After graduating, Joseph hopes to attend a top-14 law school and practice in a field of law that involves litigation.

Translating 20th century puerto rican poetry

Abstract

My research project, called Translating 20th Century Puerto Rican Poetry, aims to translate a collection of poetry into English from Spanish that has been previously untranslated. This piece of literature was deemed important to translate as it tackles the themes of Puerto Rican exile from the island, American colonialism, and eroticism that expose different social issues present during the 20th century. Through this project, my mentor and I have worked to translate over 30 distinct poems and used strategies of translation to do so. By using scholarly sources on the authors’ biography and learning modern translation practices, we were able to begin translating Manuel Ramos Otero’s collection of poetry titled Invitación al Polvo. As a native Spanish speaker, I began using my language skills to translate the poetry into English, choosing to have a more colloquial version of translation to make it understandable in the modern era while keeping the spirit and message of the original poetry intact. Stemming from these translations has come a deeper understanding of the life lived by exiled Puerto Ricans and the struggles of queer people in the early 20th century. This has also served the purpose of allowing more people to see Otero’s poetry and better appreciate the struggles of the Puerto Rican people in both historical and modern contexts.

Keywords: Poetry, Translation, Puerto Rico