Titled ‘Dialogs between Camões and Dinamene: 500 Sonnets Selected from an Infinite Poetic of Parted Souls,’ the work draws from the sonnet “Alma minha gentil, que te partiste,” by Luís de Camões, along with an alternative version created by Manuel Portela.
“Through a system of combinatorial variations, the work allows for a nearly infinite number of versions of the poem: more than 3.5 octillion possible combinations,” stated the General Library of the University of Coimbra (BGUC) in a note sent today.
The publication gathers sonnets selected by high school students from various schools across the country, “who were invited to choose, alter, and justify the variations based on their poetic comprehension and literary sensitivity.”
The students “appreciated the opportunity to interact with the poetic structure, modifying words to create their own versions of the poems: they felt like authors and interpreters, not just readers,” the Library noted.
According to the note, “above all, many [of the students] understood the project as an intergenerational dialogue with Camões, a way to give voice to Dinamene and to continue, reinventing the Portuguese poetic tradition.”
‘Dialogs between Camões and Dinamene’ is a project by Rui Torres, which was part of the exhibition ‘CAMÕES 500’ in the section ‘Camões, One and Multiple: Digital Re-creations,’ proposing a “critical and creative reflection on new ways of enjoyment, reading, and reinventing the Camonian legacy, projecting it into the future,” it added.
The book launch event, scheduled for 6:00 PM next Friday, the 24th, symbolically concludes the ‘CAMÕES 500’ exhibition, curated by Paulo Silva Pereira and Filipa Araújo, which has been on display at the BGUC since January and concludes the following day (July 25).
The work will be available online after the event.
