poetry in action features work by poets from around the world, translated into English.
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poetry in action #55
from Carolina Dávila’s book animal ajena / alien animal
Translated by Ryan Greene
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Translator’s Note
The sequence below comes from Carolina Dávila’s book animal ajena (alien animal), which was published by Cardumen (an imprint of Laguna Libros) in Bogotá in 2022. The book is an experiment in “membranous poetics” blurring the traditionally sharp divides between animal/human, human/machine, authored/automated, and masculine/feminine, etc. The excerpt we’ve selected for poetry in action is a simultaneously playful and eerie peek into the world of the project.
In “Imitation Game,” Dávila lays out the process by which she wrote the three entities in “The poem is an imitation game.” She also establishes a conceptual frame, rooting herself in both Alan Turing’s famous “imitation game” and N. Katherine Hayles’ re-appraisal of his proposed test a half-century later.
As we’ve collaborated on the English version of this excerpt, Dávila and I have been interested in the role translation plays in this intricate imitative circuit. The “entities” themselves feature scrambled text from two Donna Haraway pieces: “The Promises of Monsters: A Regenerative Politics for Inappropriate/d Others” (translated into Spanish by Elena Casado) and “A Cyborg Manifesto” (translated into Spanish by Manuel Talens). In our English versioning of the texts, the first three entities present my translation treating Dávila’s Spanish text as my starting point. The fourth entity, though, is a “procedural translation” where I’ve re-performed the process Dávila used to create her entities. Working backwards from Dávila’s texts, I found the sections they were drawn from in the Spanish language versions of Haraway’s essays. Then I fed the corresponding sections from Haraway’s “original” English texts into the Lazarus Corporation Text-Mixing Desk v3.0, and created a new entity using, like Dávila, my hands’ fingers to touch my mouse and keyboard to select fragments and introduce line breaks. An imitation of an imitation game.
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Imitation game
A poetics as a form of proceeding / Alan Turing set forth an experiment in 1950 / a proposal with step one, two, three / which consisted of the following / which incorporates four components / :a person is in a room / :the selected texts / in the room there’s a computer connected to / the Spanish translations / two entities located in another room / a text-mixing tool / one of them is a human being, the other a machine / accessible from a computer / the person in the room can / someone must be the one to / ask questions via the computer to the two entities / select the text / and based on the responses identify the machine / feed the material into the mixer / or vice versa, the human being / cut at their discretion / the experiment’s failure / the result of the mixing / is the proof of artificial intelligence.
In the prologue of How We Became Posthuman We have the detail N. Katherine Hayles reapproaches Turing’s imitation game text fragments written by Donna Haraway to put emphasis the translations by Elena Casado and Manuel Talens on its initial conditions Lazarus Corporation text mixing desk v.2.0 the test situates us in a cybernetic circuit Carolina Dávila what’s important is not to identify the machine as the one charged with molding what’s important is the mix that when we connect our will to a cognitive system by hand in which our body is joined with other bodies with fingers typing on a machine through interfaces the thoughts turned to line breaks on the screen we’ve with a translation by Ryan Greene already transformed into posthumans
The poem is an imitation game
○○○ First entity ○○○
Over the dangerous multiplication
the exciting salamander will end up
completely separated
head / family / margin / technology / work
multiple inscription machines in
Hong Kong Moscow Antwerp and
those places where the beast theory without voids or webs
promises the final exit from the solid ocean
to the amniotic land
(man-in-space)
the search of/for domestic fantasy
to transport oneself tirelessly
to a home with instant access to
the city / the architecture / the escape
moving ourselves with fullness through the sprit’s realization
a material-metaphoric success where the worker’s exploited:
electrophoresis apprehension violence
In the muddy muck and mire the planting’s better
thus modularity applies to us
to occupy the existing zone
between the laser discs
but for now the Ichthyostega gifts us
time compression and a gene bank
In a single literal quotidian device
we have the narrative of the printed code
a history of journeys to the final frontiers
in constant resurgence
○○○ Second entity ○○○
It will end up completely identified and separated
: head of monogamous feminine family
will be moved from the apprehension
its body reconstructed by fish and amphibians
Who could piece together this heroic beast?
Now corporal gifts us
a total success assures us
those places where multiple machines
conquered by the basic desire for fullness
promise to satisfy
the literal voidless fantasy
Escape of men mediated by lost steps
squirms through the muddy muck and mire through the city
through the complete and instant access
to the body drawn in the margins
solidly installed in the amniotic ocean
Home homes the frontiers final alone reinforced
disembodied
We’ve reconstructed exploited localized
the transferences the workplaces
the chain of substitutions
We multiply the prehistoric monster
and now it crawls toward the future
over the dangerous solid ground
our no longer fish
○○○ Third entity ○○○
Offers the office of telephones from Hong Kong Moscow Antwerp
this reconstructed quotidian beast
the multiplication of the prehistoric monster
that crawls domestic where the worker
and the nuclear family explodes
Conquered by fish and amphibians the home and the businesses
where there are no voids no multiple machines
a salamander firmly planted
in the margins and in workplaces
Time and space will end
moving the material-metaphoric chain and the lost
steps from the first non-original actor
until the drawn promises
Technology of domestic work
to join the final exit from the search
the instant and complete access
an architecture assures us success in the muddy muck and mire
of the final frontiers
The planting’s better interlaced
in constant resurgence from the amniotic ocean
from the body
that printed code
that tale of travels
that advertisement
that text which promised to satisfy
to bring us to the escape and to the future
over the dangerous though arousing
first time compression
To transport us ceaselessly
and to occupy the existing zone
between apprehension and the telecommunication networks
the corporal production is gifted to us
○○○ Fourth entity ○○○
dangerous as man-in-space
finally
this ever-multiplying access to the non-original
the no behooves narrative
in the everyday advertisement
margins, potent, carry violence
no-longer-fish told
“There are substitutions
in this disembodied monster family”
phone numbers are missing links
in spirit beast fantasy
The work paid with technology of domestic structure
an extra-laboratory sweat-shop
home-based businesses
first trace of the amniotic fundamental desire
relentlessly then
Ichthyostega
promises migration module architecture
metaphoric-material chain
enticing a better instantaneous DNA
literal apparatus of body
separating and writing places
where the crawling body
prehistoric (simulated)
sloughs more text
From machines
Women-headed transferences
crawl into the future software
promise breaching bodily production.
We identified our fulfillment
re-emergence and presence
niche complete
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Juego de imitación
Una poética como una forma de proceder / Alan Turing planteó en 1950 un experimento / una propuesta con paso uno, dos, tres / que consiste en lo siguiente / que incorpora cuatro componentes / :una persona está en una habitación / :los textos seleccionados / en la habitación hay una computadora conectada a / las traducciones al español / dos entidades ubicadas en otra sala / una herramienta mezcladora de texto / una de ellas es un ser humano, la otra una máquina / a la que se accede desde una computadora / la persona en la habitación puede / alguien debe encargarse de / hacer preguntas por medio de la computadora a las dos entidades / seleccionar los textos / y con base en las respuestas identificar a la máquina / introducir el material en la mezcladora / o lo que es igual, al ser humano / cortar a su arbitrio / la falla del experimento / el resultado de la mezcla / es la prueba de la inteligencia artificial.
En el prólogo de How we became posthuman Tenemos el detalle N. Katherine Hayles retoma el juego de imitación de Turing fragmentos de textos escritos por Donna Haraway para poner el énfasis las traducciones de Elena Casado y Manuel Talens en las condiciones iniciales del mismo Lazarus Corporation text mixing desk v.2.0 la prueba nos sitúa en un circuito cibernético Carolina Dávila lo importante no es identificar a la máquina como la encargada de moldear lo importante es la mezcla que al empalmar nuestra voluntad a un sistema cognitivo con las manos en el que nuestro cuerpo se une a otros cuerpos con los dedos tecleando sobre la máquina a través de interfaces los pensamientos hechos cortes de línea en la pantalla ya nos hemos convertido en posthumanos
El poema es un juego de imitación
○○○ Primera entidad ○○○
Sobre la peligrosa multiplicación
la excitante salamandra terminará
completamente separada
cabeza / familia /margen / tecnología / trabajo
múltiples máquinas de inscripción en
Hong Kong Moscú Amberes y
esos lugares donde la teoría bestia sin vacíos ni redes
promete la última salida del océano firme
a la tierra amniótica
(hombre-en-el-espacio)
la búsqueda de la fantasía doméstica
transportarse sin descanso
a un hogar con acceso instantáneo a
la ciudad / la arquitectura / la huida
moviéndonos de plenitud por la realización del espíritu
un éxito metafórico-material donde se explota al obrero:
electrophoresis apresamiento violencia
En el cenagal fangoso se cultiva mejor
nos incumbe entonces modular
ocupar la zona existente
entre los discos láser
pero por ahora se nos obsequia el Ichthyostega
la compresión del tiempo y un banco de genes
En un solo aparato literal cotidiano
tenemos la narrativa del código impreso
una historia de viajes a las fronteras últimas
en constante resurgimiento
○○○ Segunda entidad ○○○
Terminará completamente identificada y separada
: cabeza de familia femenina monógama
se moverá desde el apresamiento
su cuerpo conquistado por peces y anfibios
¿Quién podrá unir esta bestia heroica?
Ahora corporal nos obsequia
un éxito total nos asegura
esos lugares donde múltiples máquinas
conquistadas por el deseo básico de plenitud
prometen satisfacer
la literal fantasía donde no hay vacíos
Huida de los hombres mediada por eslabones perdidos
repta en el cenagal fangoso en la ciudad
en el acceso instantáneo y completo
al cuerpo que se dibuja en los márgenes
firmemente instalado en el océano amniótico
Hogar hogares las fronteras últimas solas reforzadas
descorporeizadas
Hemos reconstruido explotado localizado
las transferencias los lugares de trabajo
la cadena de sustituciones
Multiplicamos al monstruo prehistórico
y ahora se arrastra hacia el futuro
sobre la peligrosa tierra firme
nuestro ya no pez
○○○ Tercera entidad ○○○
Ofrece la división de teléfonos de Hong Kong Moscú Amberes
esta bestia reconstruida y cotidiana
la multiplicación del monstruo prehistórico
que se arrastra doméstico donde explota el obrero
y la familia nuclear
Conquistados por peces y anfibios el hogar y el negocio
donde no hay vacíos ni múltiples máquinas
una salamandra firmemente instalada
en los márgenes y en los lugares de trabajo
Terminarán el tiempo y el espacio
moviendo la cadena metafórico-material y los eslabones
perdidos desde el primer actor no original
hasta las promesas dibujadas
Tecnología del trabajo doméstico
unir la última salida de la búsqueda
el acceso instantáneo y completo
una arquitectura nos asegura el éxito en el cenagal fangoso
de las fronteras últimas
Se cultiva mejor enlazados
en constante resurgimiento desde el océano amniótico
desde el cuerpo
ese código impreso
esa historia de viajes
ese anuncio
ese texto que promete satisfacer
llevarnos a la huida y al futuro
sobre la peligrosa aunque excitante
primera compresión del tiempo
Transportarnos sin descanso
y ocupar la zona existente
entre el apresamiento y las redes de telecomunicaciones
la producción corporal se nos obsequia
Carolina Dávila Díaz is a poet and editor from Bogotá, Colombia. Her book Como las catedrales won the National Award of Poetry in Colombia in 2010. She is also the author of Imagen (In)completa (2018), animal ajena (2022), and Buenavista, un kilómetro (2026) and co-editor of La trenza, a poetry, essay, and illustration magazine. She is part of Contaminación Cruzada, an artistic and poetic intervention project that explores the possibilities of language in public spaces. She lives in New York, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature and Art. (photo: Ezequiel Zaidenwerg)
Ryan Greene writes, translates, makes, and caretakes books in “Phoenix, Arizona,” the city where he grew up. His most recent translations include projects with Carolina Dávila, Elena Salamanca, Claudina Domingo, Ana Belén López, Yaxkin Melchy, and Giancarlo Huapaya. He’s learning. (Photo: Dennis Dominguez)