Décio Pignatari (August 20, 1927 – December 2, 2012) was a Brazilian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

Early life and education

Born in

Jundiaí Jundiaí is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil, located north of São Paulo. The population of the city is 443,221, with an area ...

in 1927, Pignatari began conducting experiments with poetic language, incorporating visuals elements and the fragmentation of words in the 1950s. Such verbal adventures culminated in concretism, aesthetic movement that he co-founded with Augusto and Haroldo de Campos, with whom he edited the journals ''Noigandres'' and ''Invention'' and published the ''Theory of Concrete Poetry'' (1965).

Career

As a theorist of

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

and

semiotics Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is a ...

, Pignatari translated works of

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (, ; July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media studies, media theory. Raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba a ...

and published the essay ''Information, Language and Communication'' (1968). His poetic work can also be read in ''Poesia Pois é Poesia'' (''Poetry because it's Poetry'') (1977). Pignatari published translations of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, among others, gathered in ''Portrait of Love when Young'' (1990) and ''231 poems''. He also published a volume of stories ''The Face of Memory'' (1988) and the novel ''Panteros'' (1992), as well as a work for

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

, ''Céu de Lona'' (''Sailcloth Sky''). He died in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

of a respiratory illness on December 2, 2012.

References

External links

Official site (in Portuguese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pignatari, Decio 1927 births 2012 deaths Brazilian male poets Semioticians People from Jundiaí University of São Paulo alumni Academic staff of the University of São Paulo Tropicália Translators to Portuguese 20th-century Brazilian poets 20th-century Brazilian translators 20th-century Brazilian male writers Translators of Dante Alighieri Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translators of William Shakespeare Visual poets