“dramaturgy of the world” & “portuguese lesson”
→ PUBLISHED IN ISSUE NO. 25: SPRING/SUMMER 2020
dramaturgy of the world
so much depends on how many
steps you are able to take
after crossing
imaginary lines
portuguese lesson
my language wants to speak in the feminine
she¹ wants the plural feminine², my language
wants to say Muitas³ without meaning
Elas⁴ she wants to be able to say elas and include
Todas⁵which in turn includes Todos⁶
without having to make use of the
O at the end of todos she wants to put an X my
language wants to put an E an A in the
place of the marker O she wants to unmark the
O of the homem⁷ at the core of the language
my language will be entire feminine
my language will be entire infinite
get ready⁸
Translator’s Notes
The word língua (language) is feminine in Portuguese.
Like Spanish, French, and Italian, Portuguese conventionally uses masculine plural nouns, pronouns, and adjectives to refer to mixed gender groups.
Muitas: many (feminine plural declension)
Elas: the third-person plural feminine pronoun
Todas: all/everyone (feminine plural declension)
Todos: all/everyone (masculine plural declension)
Homem: man. The h being silent, the initial sound is an /o/.
The closing sentence in the original text (estejam preparadas), in addition to using only the vowels a and e, declines the adjective in the feminine plural.
