Meta-rhetoric, concept and application: the poetics of Augusto de Campos

abstract

The most prevalent form of rhetoric innovation we have identified in Augusto de Campos’ poetry the reframing of certain conventional aesthetic procedures, which endows them with an unexpected facet. The poet approaches certain figures of speech via an intersemiotic translation that, according to Décio Pignatari’s poetic function, involves the presence of a symbolic system that operates “below, intra and super” when imposed to verbal language. This essay proposes to approach Campos’ poems through what we call a meta-rhetoric perspective.

Keywords:
Augusto de Campos; poetry; figures; semiotics