Continental Drift: Europe and translation, poetry and film

This article is an account of a trans-European poetry-film project, Continental Drift, which consists of a system of mutating from one short film to the next via poetry. Its methodology is explained, along with a description of how the project, still in its initial stages, is progressing. The main theoretical notion that underpins the project is viewing translation as a key concept for understanding European identity. The article first explores a view of European history and culture from a translational perspective, before demonstrating how these ideas have informed how the project is structured and viewed. Finally, the term moiré, borrowed from physics, is introduced as a general cultural term, but specifically used here to facilitate an understanding of translation and poetry-film.