Preamble: The Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead: A Prototype of Ekphrastic Translation of Plate 1

The Pataphysical premise for ekphrastic translation is sim-ple. Meaning (core) is the epiphenomenon of Sign (sur-face). Under the rubric of this premise, translation be-comes subject to the following clinamen: a swerve of translation to the level of description. Such an attempt to establish a system of verbal linear cor-respondence as a studied description of what is seen (i.e., by a treatment of hieroglyph as phenotype, hence a new code), will of necessity be partly a subjective response, cf. Tender Buttons. Ekphrastic translation liberates the latter from the domain of service, of utility, into the realm of creativity. “HA HA,” doubt-lessly Bosse-de-Nage would exclaim/explain.