Ce texte est le fruit d'une méditation personnelle sur le mystère du Samedi Saint, le mystère de l'Incarnation.  Il n'est pas question de démontrer quoi que ce soit. Cela ne peut être proposé  que comme une sorte de parabole poétique sur la Nuit qui devient Lumière.

Este texto nasce de uma meditação pessoal sobre o mistério do Sábado Santo, o mistério da Incarnação. Não se trata de demonstrar seja o que for. Apenas de propor uma espécie de parábola poética sobre a Noite transfigurada em Luz.

This text is born from a personal meditation on the mystery of Holy Saturday, that of the Incarnation. Far from seeking to prove anything, it can only be offered as a sort of poetic parable of Darkness that has turned into Light.

Saint John of the Cross’s mystical development is encompassed in the image and experience of night. The phrase “dark night of the soul” is tied to the name of this Spanish priest, who inntroduced the reformation of the Carmelite order along with St Teresa of Ávila in the sixteenth century. The phrase is analyzed here in its various components and main meanings: cosmic night, the night of the soul, and the night of the purgative, illuminative and unitive Ways leading towards the beatific vision reached in eternal love of union with God and his eternal love.

Au fil des années, la manifestation divine, qui est au centre de l’œuvre du Greco, surgit d’un fond de plus en plus obscur. Sur des ciels hantés par la nuit resplendissent des couleurs irréelles. La nuit tend alors à s’imposer, chez cet artiste, comme un équivalent du fond d’or qu’il avait employé au début sa carrière, lorsqu’il était encore, en Crète, un peintre d’icônes.

A manifestação divina que está no centro da obra de El Greco, surge, com o passar do tempo, impregnada de tonalidades cada vez mais obscuras. Sob os céus assombrados pela noite, resplandecem cores irreais. A noite tende então a impor-se a este artista como equivalente a esse fundo de ouro que utilizara no início da sua carreira quando ainda era, em Creta, pintor de ícones.

With the years, the manifestation of God, which lies at the heart of El Greco’s work, progressively takes place against an increasingly darker background. Unreal colors shine out against skies ruled over by the night, which tends to replace the golden background used by the artist at the beginning of his career, when he was still a painter of icons in Crete.

Une poétique moderne de la nuit paraît vouée à interroger les multiples lueurs qui illuminent nos cieux nocturnes. Phares, torches ou allumettes, nos diverses façons d’éclairer la nuit révèlent la nature de notre commerce avec le secret nocturne, ce dont témoignent aussi bien la littérature que le cinéma.

A modern poetics of night seems bound to inquire into the many sources of light illuminating our skies at night. The various ways we have of lighting up our night, whether with headlights, flashlights or matches reveal how we relate to its secret, and this is apparent both in literature and in film.

Cet article évoque les nuits qui inspirent le cinéma, nuits qui recèlent souvent des secrets.

The silver screen has been inspired by nights that are often full of secrets.

Se a voz e a noite têm longas afinidades confirmadas pelo desenvolvimento do lied germânico, escutar a misteriosa noite do Nocturno, os seus murmúrios, as suas elevações graves nos limiares da evanescência, reserva-nos surpresas e maravilhamentos. Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Mahler, todos eles amantes da noite, convidam-nos a este tipo de escuta que participa simultaneamente do íntimo e do segredo.

Night has long been a favorite theme for the human voice. This was confirmed by the development of German Lieder; yet if listeners lend an attentive ear to Night’s mystery, to its murmurs, vertiginous heights and potential eclipses, they will be amazed and enthralled. The music of Schubert, Schumann, Wolf and Mahler, who were all in love with Night, invites us to seek for its intimate and secret nature when we listen to it.

Cet article décrit les aspects sous lesquels, dans quatre œuvres d’Arnold Schoenberg – La Nuit transfigurée, Gurrelieder, Erwartung (L’attente) et Moïse et Aaaron –, la Nuit apparaît respectivement comme possibilité de transformation rédemptrice, comme lieu fantasmagorique de réitération de l’hybris, comme lutte sous la forme d’un cauchemar du passé à transcender et, finalement, comme occasion de descente vers la barbarie.

En 1897, Mallarmé, parlant du poème Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le Hasard, qu’il vient de concevoir, le compare à une constellation. Paul Valéry, alors qu’il marche avec lui au creux d’une nuit de juillet, sous l’innombrable scintillement du Serpent, du Cygne, de l’Aigle, de la Lyre, alors qu’il se sent au cœur de l’univers silencieux, songe à la « tentative merveilleuse » dont il vient d’être le premier admirateur. Le poète a essayé, dit-il, « d’élever enfin une page à la puissance du ciel étoilé ». C’est peut-être  un aboutissement de la recherche mallarméenne : aux arcanes de l’univers, aux signes inscrits lumineusement dans sa nuit, répondrait, inverse, l’énigme des lettres noires sur le blanc de la page

Em 1897, ao falar do poema Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le Hasard que acabara de compor, Mallarmé compara este texto a uma constelação. Quanto a Paul Valéry, sonha, no meio das suas deambulações no seio de uma noite de Julho e envolto no imenso e cintilante manto da Serpente, do Cisne, da Águia e da Lira, com essa «tentativa maravilhosa» de que se tornara o primeiro admirador ao sentir-se no coração do universo silencioso. Afirma que o poeta tentou «elevar finalmente uma página à potência do céu estrelado». Talvez seja este um culminar da demanda mallarmeana: aos confins do universo, aos signos luminosamente inscritos na sua noite, responderia agora o enigma inverso das letras negras sobre o branco da página.

In 1897, Mallarmé compared the poem A roll of the dice will never abolish Chance which he had just created to a constellation. Walking alongside of him one fine July night under the vast, gleaming canopy of stars formed by Serpens, Cygnus, Aquila and Lyra, and feeling at the very heart of the silent universe, Paul Valéry mused upon the “wonderful endeavor” he had just been the first to behold. Mallarmé sought, he said, “to endow writing with the power of the starlit sky.” And this may be the outcome of his quest: the mystery of the universe and the signs lighting up its darkness might find an inverted correspondence in the enigma raised by the dark letters inscribed on a white page.

Monologue inédit en français, traduit du portugais par Ilda Mendes dos Santos et Daniel Rodrigues.

La «Nuit Sanglante» du 19 octobre 1921 a été un des épisodes les plus frappants de la I^ère République portugaise (1910-1926). Avec une violence sans précédent, et l'assassinat d'éminents républicains, parmi lesquels le président du ministère démissionnaire, ces événements ont marqué de façon indélébile l'histoire du régime, constituant un de ses moments les plus malheureux. On a essayé de comprendre ces meurtres, mais leurs explications demeurent contradictoires jusqu'à présent. Les crimes de cette nuit tragique sont toujours entourés de doutes et d'incertitudes.

A "Noite Sangrenta" de 19 de Outubro de 1921 foi um dos episódios mais marcantes da I República Portuguesa (1910-1926). De uma violência inaudita, com o assassinato de destacados republicanos, de entre os quais o presidente do Ministério demissionário, os acontecimentos marcaram indelevelmente a história do regime, constituindo um dos dias mais infaustos do mesmo. Procuraram-se explicações para as mortes mas ainda hoje encontramos análises diversas e antagónicas. Os crimes desta noite trágica continuam envoltos em dúvidas e incertezas.

One of the most striking episodes of the Portuguese Republic (1910-1926) was the “night of blood” which took place on 19 October 1921. Giving rise to unprecedented violence and to the assassination of eminent republicans, among whom the Prime Minister who had resigned, these events left an indelible mark on the history of the regime, of which they were one of the darkest episodes. People have tried to account for the assassinations, but so far, explanations have been contradictory and the crimes committed on that tragic night are still surrounded with doubts and uncertainties.

Espaces de sortie nocturne, les dancings parisiens de l’entre-deux-guerres apparaissent comme les lieux de tous les possibles. Caractérisés par leur répertoire musico-chorégraphique « moderne », ils accueillent la pratique en vogue des danses états-uniennes, brésiliennes, cubaines ou originaires du Rio de la Plata. Dissimulant des pratiques illégales (trafics de drogue, prostitution clandestine), le cadre nocturne du dancing autorise également des rencontres entre les personnes des deux sexes que la société réprouve et constitue ainsi, dans les imaginaires de la période, un lieu de transgression sociale et sexuelle.

Lugares de saída nocturna, os dancings parisienses de entre guerras surgem como o espaço de todos os possíveis. Caracterizando-se pelo seu repertório musical e coreográfico «moderno», acolhem as danças em voga oriundas dos Estados-Unidos da América, do Brasil, de Cuba ou do Rio de la Plata. Dissimulando práticas ilícitas (tráfico de droga, prostituição clandestina), a envolvente nocturna do dancing permite igualmente o encontro entre pessoas de ambos os sexos que a sociedade reprova, constituindo assim, no imaginário dessa época, um lugar de transgressão social e sexual.

Between the two World Wars, dance halls in Paris allowed people to spend a night out in venues that seem to have welcomed all kinds of practices. They were distinguished by their musical and dance repertoire featuring fashionable types of dancing from the United States, Brazil, Cuba or Rio de la Plata. Besides concealing illegal practices such as drug dealing and clandestine prostitution, the fact that dance halls were night venues also enabled encounters between people of both sexes at a time when they were frowned upon by society. In people’s imaginations, dance halls were thus places favoring social and sexual transgression.

Nouvelle inédite

La nuit de nos ancêtres était la nuit des étoiles, du zodiaque et des flammes du foyer. Elle accordait les hommes à un univers ordonné et sensé. La nuit de l’homme moderne est refoulée par les éblouissantes illuminations urbaines qui donnent apparence d’ordre et de sens à un monde qui a perdu l’un et l’autre. Que les lumières électriques s’éteignent et la nuit n’est plus que le noir angoissant du néant.

A noite dos nossos antepassados era noite estrelada, noite do zodíaco e das chamas do lar que ligava os homens a um universo ordenado e portador de sentido. A noite do homem moderno é a noite recalcada pelas deslumbrantes luzes da cidade que conferem a aparência de ordem e de sentido a um universo que perdeu essas qualidades. Quando as luzes se apagam, resta a noite angustiante e negra do vazio.

For our ancestors, night was linked to stars, the zodiac, and firelight glowing in the hearth. People were attuned to an orderly universe which made sense. In modern times, night has been repressed by dazzling city lights which convey an appearance of order and meaning to a world bereft of both. Should electric lights go out, then night turns into a frightening, dark void.

L’auteur a  cherché à croiser trois fils : cosmologique, montrant l’improbabilité de l’existence de la nuit ; psychanalytique, avec l’hypothèse heuristique de la crypte ; pictural et cinématographique, dévidant  certaines conséquences des effets induits par le choix du noir.  Le tissage de ces trois fils trouve sa trame dans la circulation nocturne des fantômes qui, jamais dissipée, sera célébrée, et glorifiée, dans le don d'amour rédempteur d'une femme.

O autor procurou entrelaçar três fios neste artigo: cosmológico, mostrando a improbabilidade da existência da noite; psicanalítico, com a hipótese heurística da cripta; pictórico e cinematográfico, tirando algumas elações sobre os efeitos induzidos pela escolha do negro. Esta trama tem origem na misteriosa e indissolúvel presença dos fantasmas que apenas o amor redentor de uma mulher poderá assumir.

The author has sought to intertwine three strands – the cosmological, proving how improbable the existence of night is; the psychoanalytical, with the heuristic hypothesis of the crypt; and the pictorial and cinematographic, unfolding some of the consequences arising from the choice of darkness. The framework allowing these three strands to be interwoven is the nightly presence of ghosts – never to be dispelled, it will be celebrated and glorified through a woman’s redeeming love.

L’article essaie de remonter, dans une perspective traductologique, vers le secret tu (et silencieux) dont chaque langue se distingue – de différences en différences – pour exister devant toutes les autres ; lesquelles ont toutes renoncé à une transparence « primitive », vers laquelle parfois la posture double de l’autre permet de tendre sinon d’espérer arriver.  

Este artigo procura, numa perspectiva traductológica, regressar ao segredo silenciado (e silencioso) através do qual cada língua se distingue por sucessivas diferenciações, e se individualiza face às restantes línguas. Línguas essas que renunciaram, todas elas, a uma “transparência” primitiva que o duplo estatuto do outro permite, por vezes, vislumbrar ou, talvez mesmo, alcançar.

Written in the perspective of Translation Studies, this article leads back to the unspoken (and silent) secret from which each language marks itself out as different, thus existing in front of all the others. All languages have abandoned the notion of a “primeval” transparency, yet the translator’s double position as a being who is constantly in contact with the Other sometimes allows languages to strive toward it, even though they may hardly hope to achieve it.