Full Description
Rediscover Joyce Mansour, the most significant Surrealist poet to emerge from 1950s Paris.
"You know very well, Joyce, that you are for me—and very objectively too—the greatest poet of our time. Surrealist poetry, that's you."—André Breton
Joyce Mansour, a Syrian Jewish exile from Egypt, was 25 years old when she published her first book in Paris in 1953. Her fierce, macabre, erotically charged works caught the eye of André Breton, who welcomed her into his Surrealist group and became her lifelong friend and ally. Despite her success in surrealist circles, her books received scant attention from the literary establishment, which is hardly surprising since Mansour's favorite topics happened to be two of society's greatest fears: death and unfettered female desire.
Now, over half a century later, Mansour's time has come. Emerald Wounds collects her most important work, spanning the entire arc of her career, from the gothic, minimalist fragments of her first published work to the serpentine power of her poems of the 1980s. In fresh new translations, Mansour's voice surges forth uncensored and raw, communicating the frustrations, anger, and sadness of an intelligent, worldly woman who defies the constraints and oppression of a male-dominated society. Mansour is a poet the world needs today.
Contents
Table of Contents
Translator's Introduction
Editorial Note
Cris (1953) / Screams
"Je te soulève dans mes bras"
"I lift you in my arms"
"L'amazone mangeait son dernier sein."
"The amazon was eating her last breast"
"Chien bleu nez enfoncé dans la terre"
"Blue dog whose nose is buried in the sand"
"Je veux me montrer nue à tes yeux chantants."
"I want to be naked in your singing eyes."
"Ton enfant dans tes bras."
"Your child in your arms"
"Fièvre ton sexe est un crabe"
"Fever your sex is a crab"
"Une femme créait le soleil"
"A woman created the sun"
"Couchée sur mon lit"
"Lying on my bed"
"J'ai un esprit inquiet."
"I have a worried mind"
"Combien d'amours ont fait crier ton lit?"
"How many loves made your bed cry out?"
"Coquillage qui traîne sur une plage déserte"
"Seashell lying on an empty beach"
"Que mes seins te provoquent"
"May my breasts provoke you"
Déchirures (1955) / Shreds
"La mort est une marguerite qui dort"
"Death is a daisy sleeping"
"J'ai volé l'oiseau jaune"
"I stole the yellow bird"
"Invitez-moi à passer la nuit dans votre bouche"
"Invite me to spend the night in your mouth"
"Dans le monde sans verdure"
"In a world without greenery"
"Hurlements d'une montagne"
"Shrieks from a mountain giving birth"
"Je suis la nuit"
"I am the night"
"C'était hier:"
"It was yesterday."
"La nappe rouge"
"The red tablecloth"
"Pleure petit homme"
"Cry little man"
"Danse avec moi petit violoncelle"
"Dance with me, little cello"
"La marée monte sous la pleine lune des aveugles."
"The tide is rising under the full moon of the blind."
"Je veux dormir avec toi coude à coude"
"I want to sleep with you elbow to elbow"
"L'orage tire une marge argentée"
"The storm draws a silver line"
poems from BIEF (1958-1960)
Le Missel de la Miss (Bonnes Nuits) / The Missel of the Missus (Good Nights)
i) Quelques Conseils En Courant Sur Quatre Roues
i) Advice for Running on Four Wheels
ii) Il Fait Foid? Une Robe S'impose
ii) Cold Out? A Dress Is Essential
iii) Lignes Autour D'un Cercle
iii) Lines Around a Circle
Genève
Geneva
Conseils Pratiques en Attendant
Practical Advice While You Wait
Ce Qui Se Porte Cet Hiver
What to Wear This Winter
Ce Qui Ne Se Porte Pas Cet Hiver
What Not to Wear This Winter
Conseils d'une Consœur
Advice from a Sister
Rapaces (1960) / Birds of Prey
Rhabdomancie
Dowsing
Chant Arabe
Arab Song
Carré Blanc (1965) / White Square
I : "Où le Bas Blesse" / I: Where the Shoe Hurts
Dans L'obscurité A Gauche
In the Dark to the Left
Leger Comme Une Navette Le Désir
Light as a Shuttle Desire
L'appel Amer d'un Sanglot
The Bitter Call of Tears
Dans Le Sillage Du Mont-Arbois
In the Wake of Mont-Arbois
Nuit De Veille Dans Une Cellule En Cristal De Roche
Sleepless Nights in a Cell of Rock Crystal
Le Soleil Dans Le Capricorne
Sun in Capricorn
II : "L'Heure Erogene" / II: "The Erogenous Hour"
Fleurie Comme La Luxure
Flowered Like Lewdness
Séance Tenante
Right Away
Papier D'argent
Tin Foil
L'Amoureuse Guerriere
Woman Warrior in Love
Souvenir Impose par le Nord au Sud Vaincu
Memories Imposed by the North on a Conquered South
Sous la Tour Centrale
Under the Central Tower
III : "Verres Fumés" / III: "Smoked Glasses"
L'Heure Velue
The Hairy Hour
La Piste du Brouillard
The Path of Fog
La Facade de l'Obsession
The Face of Obsession
Heureux les Étourdis
Happy Are the Stunned
Des Myriads d'Autres Morts
A Myriad of More Deaths
Sonne n'Écoute Personne n'Écoute Per
One Listen to No One Listen to No
Les Damnations (1967) / Damnations
Au-Dela de la House
Beyond the Swell
Minuit à Perte de Vue
Endlessly Midnight
Pandémonium (1976) / Pandemonium
Jasmin d'Hiver (1982) / Winter Jasmine
Flammes Immobiles (1985) / Still Flames
"Ne jamais dire son rêve"
"Never share your dream"
"Les eaux de ce pays-là ne s'écoulent jamais"
"The waters of that country never flow"
"Brûler l'encense dans la quiétude"
"To burn incense in the quiet of a room"
Trous Noirs (1986) / Black Holes
