Inaccessibility as Attempt at Communication: Drummond de Andrade’s “In the Middle of the Road”

Abstract

The paper focuses on Drummond de Andrade’s poem “In the middle of the road” in an attempt to isolate and investigate the conflicting aspects relating to the poem, such as the ones relating to its hermeticism and the translation challenges that “simple originals” set before the translator. An overarching analysis of both formal and thematic aspects of the poem brings to light its rich interpretative capacities that were disputed initially by the critics due to its ostensible formal and thematic poverty and banality. The paper proposes viewing of the poem through the opposing concepts of the inside and outside and the relationship between the individual and society, which implies a constant collision between the hermeticism of the individual’s personal space and the striving to leave that space in order to establish communication in the society the individual belongs to.