O papel da tradução na construção da identidade da literatura afro-americana no Brasill

This paper discusses the role of translation in the construction of the identity of African-American literature in Brazil, by considering the relations between the Brazilian sociocultural context, infl uenced by biological and cultural miscegenation, and the particular way that the literary criticism represented by essays and translations of the Brazilian critic Sergio Milliet, published in between the 40’s and 60’s, approaches AfricanAmerican poetry, with special focus on Langston Hughes’ poems. In this paper, differences between Brazilian and American racial contexts are brought into light in regard to the discourses on miscegenation and race. It is discussed the extent to which Sergio Milliet developed a racialized identity for African-American poetry in his essays, which, however, was rebuilt through translation, in his anthology Obras Primas da Poesia Universal, with a less racialized perspective so that African-American aesthetics could sound less dissonant and regional and more inclined towards the principle of universality which characterizes the anthology composed of renowned foreign and Brazilian poets.

The Role of the (In)visible and the Secret in the Translation of Harryette Mullen s Muse & Drudge

This paper, based on Jacques Derrida’s thoughts in Des Tours of Babel, addresses the issue regarding the (in)visible in translation, by arguing that the latter, beyond the traditional conception of communication, produces a complex set of relations between the visible and the invisible, which highlights the values of the non-dit and the secret that take place in their relation to interpretation. This line of thought underpins the discussion of my translation of two poems from Muse & Drudge (1995), by the African-American poet Harryette Mullen, whose dense poetry displays un(expected) possibilities of meanings and associations that proliferate in translation. It is argued that every act of translation entails a relationship between that which is translated (and made visible or intelligible through this act) and that which remains invisible and secret by resisting a definitive translation, which, as such, requires further interpretations in search for intelligibility (or “visibility”). We analyze the extent to which such relation between the visible and the invisible takes part in the translation of the notion of blackness raised by Mullen’s poems and how her translated poetry dialogues with issues of reception in Brazilian culture.

A tradução da identidade linguística afro-americana em Invisible Man, de Ralph Ellison: questões de integração racial e negritude no uso do inglês vernacular afro-americano

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Uma possível arte afro-brasileira: corporeidade e ancestralidade em quatro poéticas

Pós-graduação em Artes - IA

A palavra arbitrária: estudo e tradução de Fenêtres dormantes et porte sur le toit, de René Char

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

O ensino de língua estrangeira e a importância da atividade de linguagem: construção da identidade do aluno

Pós-graduação em Linguística e Língua Portuguesa - FCLAR

Cais da Sagração e a sua tradução para o inglês: uma análise de elementos estruturais e culturais da narrativa

Pós-graduação em Letras - IBILCE

As construções de identidades nacionais: as óticas poéticas de Agostinho Neto e Fernando Pessoa

Pós-graduação em Letras - FCLAS

Orator de Cícero: tradução e estudo de fragmentos de uma poética clássica

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Dilemas na tradução de Muse & Drudge (Musa E Mula), de Harryette Mullen: negritude, dissonância e miscigenação

This paper aims to discuss a project of translating part of the work Muse & Drudge, by the award-winning African-American poet Harryette Mullen, into Brazilian Portuguese, with focus on a single poem. In Muse & Drudge Mullen combines cultural critique with humor, lyricism and punning, which has unfolded the frontiers between cultural and racial identity, and has put into question the opposition between popular and high culture. This work analyzes to which extent the proposed translation produces a new set of intertextual relations that might culminate in “unexpected” meanings. It is a goal to understand how the effects of such “unexpected” meanings reveal the “encounter” between the so-called racial “black/white” dichotomy, predominant in the US culture, and the notion of “miscegenation” and “racial democracy” in Brazil.

A tradução de Invisible Man, de Ralph Ellison: o jogo entre racialidade e integracionismo

Relating the surface of a translated text to discourse is one of the focuses in the connection between Translation Studies and African- -American literature. In this respect, “Invisible Man”, by Ralph Ellison, and its Brazilian translation, by Márcia Serra, present themselves as material for analyzing contexts which evoke a sense of community and racial identity. Therefore, this paper centers precisely upon nuances in meaning of the linguistic displays of bonding and race. It could be noticed that these aspects were less marked in the translation, whereas the integrationist project featured in the novel was to a certain extent rewritten in words that called forth a sense of racial dichotomy. Thus, the translation displays at once the non-racialized perspective peculiar to the Brazilian view of race and assumptions in regard to the perspective of the African-American Other on race relations.

Quando gestos não políticos são políticos: a tradução brasileira de Giovanni's Room, de James Baldwin, e a questão da homossexualidade

This work is part of a research project on the role of translations of African-American literature in Brazil and their relation to issues of identity, discourse and aesthetics. It analyzes the translation, by Affonso Blacheyre, of Giovanni's room (1956), by James Baldwin, which was published in 1967 in Brazil. Baldwin is revered for his role in the Civil Rights Movement, having produced works that portray the contradictions of a democratic, but, at the same time, racist society. Giovanni's room was first rejected by his publisher for addressing homosexuality. The text displayed on the book flaps of the translation praises Baldwin's "work with language", in contrast to his anti-racism in other works. The praise of aesthetics of Giovanni's room is noteworthy, in contrast with the absence of any remarks on its critique of the marginalization of homosexuality. The focus on the aesthetics of the work corresponded to characters speaking a more formal register in the translation. Discourses on identity strengthening were less apparent in the 60s in Brazil in comparison to nowadays. The emphasis on aesthetics represented a seemingly "non-political" gesture that made it less shocking in the context of military dictatorship prevalent in the country at the time.

Mais ou menos negra? Questões de negritude, tradução e a poesia de Harryette Mullen

This paper addresses issues regarding my translation of selected poems by Harryette Mullen, a rising African-American contemporary poet, whose dense poetry works on the black oral tradition, the experimentalism of writing, the (African-American) pop music, in addition to delving into issues such as the representation of (black) female sexuality. One of the complex aspects of her poetry is the notion of miscegenation, conceived as an aesthetic argument and as a constitutive condition of the identity of multiracial Americans. This concept establishes a textuality that questions the accessible intelligibility generally expected from black American poetry, insofar as a mosaic of dissonant voices are brought to light in her text, which makes it difficult to categorize. In Brazil, especially among politically engaged Afro-Brazilians, there has been criticism towards the praise of miscegenation, since the latter has been considered to support of the myth of racial democracy. Building on these aspects, we investigate the extent to which it is a challenge to translate her poetry – based on miscegenation and hybridity as aesthetic constructs – especially when taking into account the discursive locus of readers identified with an Afro-Brazilian aesthetic, particularly critical of miscegenation. From the point of view of translation, we evaluate the extent to which her poetry could be read by the predominant cultural discourse in Brazil, inclined to favor miscegenation as an integral concept of national identity, as a seductively experimental poetry. In view of this, one wonders whether this perspective makes hers poetry “less black” for Afro-Brazilian literary standards.

José Feliciano de Castilho e a tradição clássica no século XIX: a tradução da Farsália

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Recepção de Odorico Mendes: (a)casos de crítica de tradução no séc. XIX

This paper aims at gathering evidences about the reception of Odorico Mendes Greek andRoman translations among his contemporaries. Some of the most celebrated lusophone writersof the 19th Century such as Joaquim Manoel de Macedo, Gonçalves Dias and AntónioFeliciano de Castilho left us their reviews on the work of Mendes, the most productiveand controversial Brazilian translator of the time. The analysis of those data provides valuabledocuments of translation criticism that could constitute evidence of translation practices andmethods in an historical period in which Ancient Literature poetic translations were mostlyproduced.