Translating the past with Ezra Pound

Link to tumblr project page : http://translatingtroubadours.tumblr.com/ In my project, my goal was to create an online environment that immerses the viewer in the process of translating France’s medieval past into the modernist era of Ezra Pound during the late 19th and early 20th century. I chose to make a tumblr page that allowed me to post images, videos (click on the magnifying glass in the corner to play videos and to read some of the image captions), and text that could move horizontally. By moving each object horizontally, I hoped to create the sensation of a panoramic view of the places discussed in the textual elements of the project. Using Ezra Pound’s poem Sestina: Altaforte as a thread throughout the project, I introduced different ways that troubadours such as Bertran de Born are present in the modern era. By incorporating battlefield sounds with clashing swords and thunderstorms as well as images of battlefields and Bertran de Born’s castle, I hoped to bring to life the sights and sounds of Ezra Pound’s translation of Bertran de Born’s poems. Placing Bertran de Born’s text next to Pound’s allows the viewer to draw connections between the two poets. By similarly juxtaposing the places where they wrote, (Born’s castle Altaforte and Pound’s time spent in Montmartre) the influence of these spaces overlooking the outside world becomes clear. From Born’s elevated castle, he observes battles in his poem Be’m plai lo gais temps de pascor, which mirrors the way writers like Pound overlooked the city of Paris from the Butte Montmartre on the northern side of the city. In my project, I aimed to explore this voyeuristic perspective and its role in preserving France’s cultural memory of its medieval history.