Academic Naval-gazing or a Postcolonial Imperative? – Pages from the Notebook of a Translation Anthologist
What are the excitement, burden and responsibilities of a postcolonial translator and/or translation scholar? The excitement, I believe, lies in a heightened awareness of what we can do and achieve as a translator/translation scholar. We now have a lot more roles to play than the traditional ones of an efficient cross-lingual cross-cultural communicator, or a dispassionate, professional manufacturer of cultural products. We can choose to be a cultural mediator, an innovative image-maker, or an architect-cum-builder of a project of political and or ideological import, to name but just a few of the new possibilities open to us. Of course, possibilities carry with them the burden of choice, of divided loyalties. We might have been freed from the confines of a mentality dictated by slavish loyalty to the source text, and we might have been rid of the naïve belief in translation as an innocent activity, but we often find ourselves pulled in different directions by conflicting values, and having to make difficult value judgments. The agency of a translator, something of which no postcolonial translator is ignorant, entails responsibilities, the first and foremost being the responsibility to know why one is doing certain things in the first place, and to be articulate about it.
In this presentation, I shall explore the burden and responsibilities of a postcolonial translator and translation scholar by analyzing how positionality and agency function in a specific translation project. In particular, I will give an account of how I initiated and brought to completion a translation project aimed to serve an agenda of cultural activism. The project is the compilation of an anthology of texts (most of which are translated into English for the first time) registering the views, reflections, and thoughts about translation in China, from ancient times to the early twentieth century. Volume one of this anthology, entitled An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation, Volume 1: From Earliest Times to the Buddhist Project, was published in 2006, and the sequel, entitled An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation, Volume 2: From the 13th Century to the Beginning of the 20th Century, is under preparation. Discussion is focused on a single project because it telescopes many of the ethical, ideological and political issues which a postcolonial scholar has to handle. Reflections on this project therefore would teach about larger issues of representation, mediation and intervention that are of common concern to anyone interested in compiling translation anthologies.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Patricia Anne Odber de BAUBETA (University of Birmingham, UK)
Treachery and double crossings: when adult fiction is translated for children
This paper will consider the intersection of translation, frequently viewed as a form of betrayal, with crossover literature or works originally written for one set of readers and read by another. The treachery lies in the way the translations are often made, resulting in a version that is ‘faulty, unfaithful and mutilated’, in the words of Carmen Bravo Villasante (1978: 46). The terms ‘cross-writing’ and ‘crossover’ are now taken for granted by theorists of children’s literature:
Cross-writing includes authors who write sometimes for children and sometimes for adults, as well as writers (or intra-textually, narrators) who address more than one age of reader/viewer in the same text (Falconer, 2004: 558)
Cross-writing or dual-audience authors address adults and children in the same work. Daniel Defoe is sometimes offered as an example (because of his Robinson Crusoe, though, not Moll Flanders), while crossover is normally used to describes a book that crosses age boundaries – in either direction.
In the context of the present study, I would argue for the existence of a further category, a kind of double crossing, namely the translation of novels or short stories that belong to an adult canon in one language, for inclusion in children’s anthologies in another. As Sandra Beckett has pointed out:
Novels published for one audience quite often are released later for the other in another context, either another time period or in another country and/or cultural setting. N ovels published for adults in one country are sometimes marketed for a juvenile audience in another, or occasionally, the reverse. (Beckett, 1999: xv)
Here I am thinking particularly of stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, both of whom appear in volumes of Verbo’s Série 15, published between 1970 and 1985, as well as the respective French, Spanish and French 15s. This paper will examine the way these authors and their works fare, in translation and in collections destined for a juvenile readership.
This paper will consider the intersection of translation, frequently viewed as a form of betrayal, with crossover literature or works originally written for one set of readers and read by another. The treachery lies in the way the translations are often made, resulting in a version that is ‘faulty, unfaithful and mutilated’, in the words of Carmen Bravo Villasante (1978: 46). The terms ‘cross-writing’ and ‘crossover’ are now taken for granted by theorists of children’s literature:
Cross-writing includes authors who write sometimes for children and sometimes for adults, as well as writers (or intra-textually, narrators) who address more than one age of reader/viewer in the same text (Falconer, 2004: 558)
Cross-writing or dual-audience authors address adults and children in the same work. Daniel Defoe is sometimes offered as an example (because of his Robinson Crusoe, though, not Moll Flanders), while crossover is normally used to describes a book that crosses age boundaries – in either direction.
In the context of the present study, I would argue for the existence of a further category, a kind of double crossing, namely the translation of novels or short stories that belong to an adult canon in one language, for inclusion in children’s anthologies in another. As Sandra Beckett has pointed out:
Novels published for one audience quite often are released later for the other in another context, either another time period or in another country and/or cultural setting. N ovels published for adults in one country are sometimes marketed for a juvenile audience in another, or occasionally, the reverse. (Beckett, 1999: xv)
Here I am thinking particularly of stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, both of whom appear in volumes of Verbo’s Série 15, published between 1970 and 1985, as well as the respective French, Spanish and French 15s. This paper will examine the way these authors and their works fare, in translation and in collections destined for a juvenile readership.
Lieven D’HULST (K.U.Leuven, Belgique)
Formes et fonctions des anthologies et collections de traductions en langue française (1800-1850)
La présentation s’ouvre sur un bref état des lieux sur le statut des notions d’anthologie et de collection. Ensuite, surtout en puisant dans le Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle de Pierre Larousse, nous passerons en revue les principales catégorisations et définitions dix-neuviémistes des deux notions, qu’il convient d’aborder comme des prototypes : elles possèdent un caractère interdisciplinaire et plurifonctionnel qui explique leur variation conceptuelle, leur profusion terminologique ainsi que leur adaptabilité à un faisceau de pratiques traductives. Enfin, nous examinerons les différentes modalités anthologiques des traductions en volume parues en France entre 1810 en 1840 : elles s’adaptent souplement à une pluralité de disciplines, de langues, de genres et d’éditeurs et s’imposent ainsi comme l’une des voies majeures d’acclimatation des traductions à la culture adoptive.
La présentation s’ouvre sur un bref état des lieux sur le statut des notions d’anthologie et de collection. Ensuite, surtout en puisant dans le Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle de Pierre Larousse, nous passerons en revue les principales catégorisations et définitions dix-neuviémistes des deux notions, qu’il convient d’aborder comme des prototypes : elles possèdent un caractère interdisciplinaire et plurifonctionnel qui explique leur variation conceptuelle, leur profusion terminologique ainsi que leur adaptabilité à un faisceau de pratiques traductives. Enfin, nous examinerons les différentes modalités anthologiques des traductions en volume parues en France entre 1810 en 1840 : elles s’adaptent souplement à une pluralité de disciplines, de langues, de genres et d’éditeurs et s’imposent ainsi comme l’une des voies majeures d’acclimatation des traductions à la culture adoptive.
Raquel MERINO ÁLVAREZ (University of the Basque Country, Vitoria, Spain)
Publishers vs. Censors under Franco: a view from the TRACE project
This contribution will analyse the role of publishers and publishing houses under Franco (1938-1975) from the perspective of narrative and theatre catalogues, as compiled and studied by various researches who have worked in the context of the TRACE (Translations Censored) project (www.ehu.es/trace, http://trace.unileon.es/).
Spanish publishers, in this period, had to negotiate all potential publications with censorship authorities and, thus, a huge amount of documents were left as traces of that process of negotiation. In TRACE we have been studying all kinds of information held in censorship archives for a few years now. Every research project and dissertation has been planned and coordinated so that catalogues of translations have been completed and case studies analysed for the whole period under study. Drawing on such studies, the role played by anthologies and collections will be dealt with from a comparative perspective. Questions related to the amount of native vs. translated/imported narrative or to the type of readers targeted by publishing houses will be addressed.
The catalogue of translations of Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra, compiled from censorship files, will serve as a starting point to delve into the multifaceted relationships established between the publishing industry and the authorities.
This contribution will analyse the role of publishers and publishing houses under Franco (1938-1975) from the perspective of narrative and theatre catalogues, as compiled and studied by various researches who have worked in the context of the TRACE (Translations Censored) project (www.ehu.es/trace, http://trace.unileon.es/).
Spanish publishers, in this period, had to negotiate all potential publications with censorship authorities and, thus, a huge amount of documents were left as traces of that process of negotiation. In TRACE we have been studying all kinds of information held in censorship archives for a few years now. Every research project and dissertation has been planned and coordinated so that catalogues of translations have been completed and case studies analysed for the whole period under study. Drawing on such studies, the role played by anthologies and collections will be dealt with from a comparative perspective. Questions related to the amount of native vs. translated/imported narrative or to the type of readers targeted by publishing houses will be addressed.
The catalogue of translations of Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra, compiled from censorship files, will serve as a starting point to delve into the multifaceted relationships established between the publishing industry and the authorities.
Maria Lúcia Diogo Ayres d’ABREU (University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies, Portugal)
Os ramos de flores de Oscar Wilde no jardim português. Uma análise do discurso do material paratextual das obras wildianas traduzidas para língua portuguesa e antologisadas no polissistema literário português.
Vulgarmente, as antologias (etimologicamente, um ramo das melhores flores) são definidas como compilações de textos (ou parte deles) seleccionados segundo determinados critérios (homogeneidade do assunto ou do género literário, as melhores ou mais relevantes obras de um autor ou autores, periodicidade, cronologia, etc.). Mas esta forma editorial e de publicação e de género literário (sejam textos ou excertos narrativos, líricos ou dramáticos) é também uma espécie de discurso cuja função ou funções, além da meramente didáctica, é, de uma forma geral, registar os textos escolhidos e o(s) autor(es), estabelecer/modificar cânones e tentar formar um leitorado.
Uma mais completa compreensão destas funções será obtida através da análise das fontes primárias – os próprios textos e a organização deles – e através da análise do discurso do material paratextual – introduções, prefácios, posfácios, notas e comentários, etc. – o qual pode ou não contextualizar a compilação. O ponto de vista da antologia pode mesmo ser apercebido através da falta de alguns destes instrumentos estruturais.
Embora haja algumas diferenças entre uma antologia e uma colecção (principalmente, no que diz respeito à organização e ao nível da selecção de textos), estas duas categorias históricas podem ser idênticas e algumas colecções podem ser considerada antológicas.
Tal como a antologia, a tradução é um discurso transnacional. O papel desta última é a transferência de uma determinada realidades cultural para uma outra. Tanto a(s) antologia(s) como a tradução reflectem uma determinada ideologia e uma poética. Ambas podem dar-nos informação sobre a recepção crítica, o leitorado de determinado país e a posição (em termos Even-Zoharianos) de um autor num determinado polisistema literário.
O objectivo deste trabalho é cartografar tanto as antologias como as colecções das obras escritas por Oscar Wilde traduzidas para a língua portuguesa e antologisadas no (poli)sistema literário de Portugal e simultaneamente, através de uma análise do discurso do material paratextual destas antologias e/ou colecções, investigar e tentar avaliar a posição (central/ periférica) que este autor e os diferentes géneros de escrita dele ocupam no polisistema literário português.
Vulgarmente, as antologias (etimologicamente, um ramo das melhores flores) são definidas como compilações de textos (ou parte deles) seleccionados segundo determinados critérios (homogeneidade do assunto ou do género literário, as melhores ou mais relevantes obras de um autor ou autores, periodicidade, cronologia, etc.). Mas esta forma editorial e de publicação e de género literário (sejam textos ou excertos narrativos, líricos ou dramáticos) é também uma espécie de discurso cuja função ou funções, além da meramente didáctica, é, de uma forma geral, registar os textos escolhidos e o(s) autor(es), estabelecer/modificar cânones e tentar formar um leitorado.
Uma mais completa compreensão destas funções será obtida através da análise das fontes primárias – os próprios textos e a organização deles – e através da análise do discurso do material paratextual – introduções, prefácios, posfácios, notas e comentários, etc. – o qual pode ou não contextualizar a compilação. O ponto de vista da antologia pode mesmo ser apercebido através da falta de alguns destes instrumentos estruturais.
Embora haja algumas diferenças entre uma antologia e uma colecção (principalmente, no que diz respeito à organização e ao nível da selecção de textos), estas duas categorias históricas podem ser idênticas e algumas colecções podem ser considerada antológicas.
Tal como a antologia, a tradução é um discurso transnacional. O papel desta última é a transferência de uma determinada realidades cultural para uma outra. Tanto a(s) antologia(s) como a tradução reflectem uma determinada ideologia e uma poética. Ambas podem dar-nos informação sobre a recepção crítica, o leitorado de determinado país e a posição (em termos Even-Zoharianos) de um autor num determinado polisistema literário.
O objectivo deste trabalho é cartografar tanto as antologias como as colecções das obras escritas por Oscar Wilde traduzidas para a língua portuguesa e antologisadas no (poli)sistema literário de Portugal e simultaneamente, através de uma análise do discurso do material paratextual destas antologias e/ou colecções, investigar e tentar avaliar a posição (central/ periférica) que este autor e os diferentes géneros de escrita dele ocupam no polisistema literário português.
João AZENHA Junior (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
Do silêncio à eloquência: uma leitura da Poesia alemã traduzida no Brasil.
A antologia Poesia alemã traduzida no Brasil, organizada pelo poeta, escritor, jornalista e tradutor brasileiro Geir Campos (1924-1999) comemora seu cinqüentenário em 2010. Nas palavras de seu organizador, os objetivos principais da antologia são: (1) apresentar ao leitor brasileiro um panorama de poetas alemães traduzidos ao português – dos primeiros “autores desconhecidos” aos poetas da segunda metade do séc. XIX – e (2) “propiciar uma idéia da maneira e do critério dos tradutores brasileiros” (p. 19). Geir Campos, ele próprio tradutor e um dos pioneiros, no Brasil, a sistematizar em obras de caráter reflexivo sua experiência de traduzir, é muito discreto tanto na apresentação dos poetas, quanto em seus comentários sobre “a maneira e o critério” dos tradutores. Com efeito, suas observações restringem-se a uma brevíssima introdução, que ele – utilizando a nomenclatura das artes cênicas – chama de “prólogo” e intitula “Quase uma desculpa”. Contrariamente ao silêncio e à discrição de seu organizador, porém, a antologia, vista em retrospectiva, é uma síntese bastante eloqüente do legado de poetas alemães à literatura brasileira do início do séc. XX; um retrato das atividades profissionais de tradutores a cargo de editoras da época e um locus para o qual convergem esforços vindos de diferentes áreas do conhecimento. A antologia de poemas traduzidos permite identificar, ainda, que a noção de tradução de poesia subjacente à antologia está estruturada em torno da noção de fidelidade: “(...) a fidelidade no traduzir, em que se têm esmerado mais recentemente os profissionais e amadores do ofício, nem sempre foi a pedra de toque para as traduções mais antigas (...); aqui [nesta antologia] se hão de ler ‘traduções’ que antes valem como libérrimas adaptações ou interpretações, nas quais o estilo do tradutor encobre o do traduzido” (p. 20). Contudo, tal noção de fidelidade, a ser entendida como referente ao plano semântico e largamente empregada no Brasil cinqüenta anos atrás, encontra-se em descompasso com o trabalho de outros poetas-tradutores da época. Por exemplo, com o trabalho e o pensamento dos irmãos Haroldo e Augusto de Campos, ligados à Poesia Concreta, movimento literário surgido nos anos de 1950. Para ambos, a primazia ao traduzir deve ser dada à dimensão formal, plástica do poema e a tarefa dos tradutores, neste caso, consiste em “trans-criar” esse nível de significância na língua para a qual traduzem.Vista desta perspectiva, portanto, a antologia evidencia uma cisão, no Brasil daquela época, entre a prática editorial da tradução e o modo como poetas e eruditos brasileiros concebiam e praticavam a tradução.
A antologia Poesia alemã traduzida no Brasil, organizada pelo poeta, escritor, jornalista e tradutor brasileiro Geir Campos (1924-1999) comemora seu cinqüentenário em 2010. Nas palavras de seu organizador, os objetivos principais da antologia são: (1) apresentar ao leitor brasileiro um panorama de poetas alemães traduzidos ao português – dos primeiros “autores desconhecidos” aos poetas da segunda metade do séc. XIX – e (2) “propiciar uma idéia da maneira e do critério dos tradutores brasileiros” (p. 19). Geir Campos, ele próprio tradutor e um dos pioneiros, no Brasil, a sistematizar em obras de caráter reflexivo sua experiência de traduzir, é muito discreto tanto na apresentação dos poetas, quanto em seus comentários sobre “a maneira e o critério” dos tradutores. Com efeito, suas observações restringem-se a uma brevíssima introdução, que ele – utilizando a nomenclatura das artes cênicas – chama de “prólogo” e intitula “Quase uma desculpa”. Contrariamente ao silêncio e à discrição de seu organizador, porém, a antologia, vista em retrospectiva, é uma síntese bastante eloqüente do legado de poetas alemães à literatura brasileira do início do séc. XX; um retrato das atividades profissionais de tradutores a cargo de editoras da época e um locus para o qual convergem esforços vindos de diferentes áreas do conhecimento. A antologia de poemas traduzidos permite identificar, ainda, que a noção de tradução de poesia subjacente à antologia está estruturada em torno da noção de fidelidade: “(...) a fidelidade no traduzir, em que se têm esmerado mais recentemente os profissionais e amadores do ofício, nem sempre foi a pedra de toque para as traduções mais antigas (...); aqui [nesta antologia] se hão de ler ‘traduções’ que antes valem como libérrimas adaptações ou interpretações, nas quais o estilo do tradutor encobre o do traduzido” (p. 20). Contudo, tal noção de fidelidade, a ser entendida como referente ao plano semântico e largamente empregada no Brasil cinqüenta anos atrás, encontra-se em descompasso com o trabalho de outros poetas-tradutores da época. Por exemplo, com o trabalho e o pensamento dos irmãos Haroldo e Augusto de Campos, ligados à Poesia Concreta, movimento literário surgido nos anos de 1950. Para ambos, a primazia ao traduzir deve ser dada à dimensão formal, plástica do poema e a tarefa dos tradutores, neste caso, consiste em “trans-criar” esse nível de significância na língua para a qual traduzem.Vista desta perspectiva, portanto, a antologia evidencia uma cisão, no Brasil daquela época, entre a prática editorial da tradução e o modo como poetas e eruditos brasileiros concebiam e praticavam a tradução.
Ana Maria BERNARDO (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal)
Poetry Anthologies as Projects of Weltliteratur. A Cultural Translational Approach
When dealing with the external history of translation, one may wonder why Goethe’s ambitious plan of Weltliteratur is so hard to accomplish in certain cultural contexts. Poetry anthologies are a case in point. Although the usually small dimensions of poems allow a greater representativeness of more literatures and more poets of a given culture, there are many other constraints acting upon the anthology design that deserve special attention as to their interpretation (different status of foreign literatures, canonization of poets, cultural dialogue between foreign literatures and the national one, editorial, political and translational constraints that determine the selection of poems in an anthology, among others).
Along the lines of the cultural approach to translated literature developed in Göttingen in the eighties and nineties of the 20th century (Turk 1990 and 1991, Eβmann/ Schöning, 1996, Poltermann, 1992, Kittel 1995, among others) which in turn were partially inspired by Even Zohar’s concept as to the functioning of the literary polysystem (1990), and Toury’s norms (1995), particular attention will be paid to the case of poetry anthologies as examples of configurations of otherness and also as representations of the native culture, as well as of the tensions between national and foreign stereotypes in the construction of an alterity horizon. A statistic method especially designed to analyze anthologies that was developed in Göttingen by Rühling (1996) will also be applied. As illustration of the conjectures ascertained, samples will be drawn from the Portuguese anthology Rosa do Mundo – 2001 Poemas para o futuro (Assírio e Alvim, 2001), with the main focus on poems from the German speaking cultures.
When dealing with the external history of translation, one may wonder why Goethe’s ambitious plan of Weltliteratur is so hard to accomplish in certain cultural contexts. Poetry anthologies are a case in point. Although the usually small dimensions of poems allow a greater representativeness of more literatures and more poets of a given culture, there are many other constraints acting upon the anthology design that deserve special attention as to their interpretation (different status of foreign literatures, canonization of poets, cultural dialogue between foreign literatures and the national one, editorial, political and translational constraints that determine the selection of poems in an anthology, among others).
Along the lines of the cultural approach to translated literature developed in Göttingen in the eighties and nineties of the 20th century (Turk 1990 and 1991, Eβmann/ Schöning, 1996, Poltermann, 1992, Kittel 1995, among others) which in turn were partially inspired by Even Zohar’s concept as to the functioning of the literary polysystem (1990), and Toury’s norms (1995), particular attention will be paid to the case of poetry anthologies as examples of configurations of otherness and also as representations of the native culture, as well as of the tensions between national and foreign stereotypes in the construction of an alterity horizon. A statistic method especially designed to analyze anthologies that was developed in Göttingen by Rühling (1996) will also be applied. As illustration of the conjectures ascertained, samples will be drawn from the Portuguese anthology Rosa do Mundo – 2001 Poemas para o futuro (Assírio e Alvim, 2001), with the main focus on poems from the German speaking cultures.
Carmen CAMUS CAMUS (University of Cantabria, Spain)
The Censored Discourse in Anthologies and Collections of the Far West
This paper analyses the incidence of censorship in the translation of the anthologies and collections of short stories dealing with the Far West. This study derives from a broader research project which, in the ideological context of the Franco regime (1939-1975), investigates the influence of official state censorship and self-censorship on English-Spanish translations of Westerns and their cultural influence on the Spanish polysystem. During Franco’s dictatorship all works in Spain had to be submitted to the Board of Censorship to obtain authorisation for publication or exhibition. The files opened for each individual work are kept at the Administration’s General Archive (AGA), a procedure that has left enough traces to allow the reconstruction of the translation and censorship process to which works were submitted. Although in the western genre the publication of translated works in anthologies and collections was not a conspicuous practice, there is evidence that western narrative also appeared in this format. This paper offers a case study of the incidence of Spanish censorship on the translation process by which some of Ernest Haycox short stories gathered in collections were transferred into the Spanish culture and attempts to unveil if the translation policy for this type of publication was similar to that for the genre as a whole.
The overall incidence of censorship for the genre between 1939 and 1975 was 11.2%, of which 8% corresponded to works that underwent suppressions and 3.2% to works which were denied authorisation. The global study for the genre has revealed the existence of a subtle state policy to use the translations of the western genre to promote a cultural change in accordance with the postulates of Franco’s regime. The cuts and modifications introduced in the Spanish target texts were aimed at reinforcing the ideology of the dictatorship. The study is framed within the Descriptive Studies paradigm and uses the TRACE methodology (TRAnslations CEnsored). Textual analysis proceeds in three phases preliminary, macrotextual and microtextual: the preliminary analysis focuses on the reception of the works in the sociocultural context; the macrotextual study examines suppressions and other modifications made to extensive text segments (chapters and paragraphs); and the microtextual analysis identifies the shifts of meaning in coupled pairs of translation units, and correlates them with pragmatic effects attributed to censorship. This three-phase approach aims at uncovering the norms that underlie the translation process and to establish whether the translators favoured acceptability or adequacy. The paper investigates the transfer process that Ernest Haycox’s short stories underwent in their passage from English into Spanish and compares the incidence of censorship for the works presented in collections with the overall 11.2% for the genre. Analysis at the microtextual level will yield evidence of self-censorship in the translation process and establish whether the shifts of meaning favoured the postulates of the regime. The divergences between the textual manifestations are contrasted and related to the reception of the works in the Spanish culture, and the alterations are studied to determine whether Haycox’s works published in anthologies and collections were censored in order to adapt the final product to the cultural and political expectations of the time.
This paper analyses the incidence of censorship in the translation of the anthologies and collections of short stories dealing with the Far West. This study derives from a broader research project which, in the ideological context of the Franco regime (1939-1975), investigates the influence of official state censorship and self-censorship on English-Spanish translations of Westerns and their cultural influence on the Spanish polysystem. During Franco’s dictatorship all works in Spain had to be submitted to the Board of Censorship to obtain authorisation for publication or exhibition. The files opened for each individual work are kept at the Administration’s General Archive (AGA), a procedure that has left enough traces to allow the reconstruction of the translation and censorship process to which works were submitted. Although in the western genre the publication of translated works in anthologies and collections was not a conspicuous practice, there is evidence that western narrative also appeared in this format. This paper offers a case study of the incidence of Spanish censorship on the translation process by which some of Ernest Haycox short stories gathered in collections were transferred into the Spanish culture and attempts to unveil if the translation policy for this type of publication was similar to that for the genre as a whole.
The overall incidence of censorship for the genre between 1939 and 1975 was 11.2%, of which 8% corresponded to works that underwent suppressions and 3.2% to works which were denied authorisation. The global study for the genre has revealed the existence of a subtle state policy to use the translations of the western genre to promote a cultural change in accordance with the postulates of Franco’s regime. The cuts and modifications introduced in the Spanish target texts were aimed at reinforcing the ideology of the dictatorship. The study is framed within the Descriptive Studies paradigm and uses the TRACE methodology (TRAnslations CEnsored). Textual analysis proceeds in three phases preliminary, macrotextual and microtextual: the preliminary analysis focuses on the reception of the works in the sociocultural context; the macrotextual study examines suppressions and other modifications made to extensive text segments (chapters and paragraphs); and the microtextual analysis identifies the shifts of meaning in coupled pairs of translation units, and correlates them with pragmatic effects attributed to censorship. This three-phase approach aims at uncovering the norms that underlie the translation process and to establish whether the translators favoured acceptability or adequacy. The paper investigates the transfer process that Ernest Haycox’s short stories underwent in their passage from English into Spanish and compares the incidence of censorship for the works presented in collections with the overall 11.2% for the genre. Analysis at the microtextual level will yield evidence of self-censorship in the translation process and establish whether the shifts of meaning favoured the postulates of the regime. The divergences between the textual manifestations are contrasted and related to the reception of the works in the Spanish culture, and the alterations are studied to determine whether Haycox’s works published in anthologies and collections were censored in order to adapt the final product to the cultural and political expectations of the time.
Vanessa CASTAGNA (Università Ca’ Foscari de Veneza, Italy)
Antologias de contos estrangeiros em Portugal nos anos 40 e 50 do século XX
In the 1940s and 1950s, Portugal saw an increase in the number of short story anthologies written by foreign authors and published by houses that played an important role in the popularization of translated literature, among which Portugália Editora stood out.
Consistently with the approach typically used in translation descriptive studies, the aim of this work is to analyze the collections published in Portugal during those twenty years, highlighting the following aspects: the existence of specific series of short story anthologies, the foreign literary texts translated into Portuguese, the selection process, the direct or indirect translation from and into different languages, the presence of introductions or prefaces possibly written by the translators, any additional information given by the titles of the collections, and the impact of the translated collections on the popularization or the creation of a canon.
Secondarily, the analysis focuses on the translator of the Portuguese version of the stories, who was frequently also the editor of the anthology, back in a time when many translators were writers themselves (including renowned poets such as Fernando Pessoa, Cabral do Nascimento, Jorge de Sena).
In the 1940s and 1950s, Portugal saw an increase in the number of short story anthologies written by foreign authors and published by houses that played an important role in the popularization of translated literature, among which Portugália Editora stood out.
Consistently with the approach typically used in translation descriptive studies, the aim of this work is to analyze the collections published in Portugal during those twenty years, highlighting the following aspects: the existence of specific series of short story anthologies, the foreign literary texts translated into Portuguese, the selection process, the direct or indirect translation from and into different languages, the presence of introductions or prefaces possibly written by the translators, any additional information given by the titles of the collections, and the impact of the translated collections on the popularization or the creation of a canon.
Secondarily, the analysis focuses on the translator of the Portuguese version of the stories, who was frequently also the editor of the anthology, back in a time when many translators were writers themselves (including renowned poets such as Fernando Pessoa, Cabral do Nascimento, Jorge de Sena).
Leo Tak-hung CHAN (Lingnan University – Hong Kong, China)
Marketing and Image-Building: The Translated Literature Series and Nobel Prize-Winning Works in Twentieth-Century China
The introduction of Western literature into China via translations is a crucial aspect of book publishing history in the second half of the twentieth century. Looking back at the special manner in which translations were published, it is clear that the effort was far from piecemeal and random: many series of works by Nobel laureates appeared in both the PRC and Taiwan in the latter half of the previous century. Many publishers, including the most prestigious ones like the Shanghai Publishing House and Crown Publishing Co., specialized in these large-scale publication projects. It turned out that much of the Chinese understanding of the West, built on the reading of so-called “world” masterpieces in translation, was derived for decades from the series of prize-winning works that dominated the publishing scene.
The present paper is an attempt to explore the three-way interaction between translation, publishing and reception, capitalizing on recent advances made in translation studies (by Gideon Toury and Johan Heilbron, among others) and book history research (by David Finkelstein, Roger Chartier, etc.). The questions to be examined include: (a) How successful were the translation series in marketing terms, as opposed to their usefulness in promoting a literary interest in Western works? (b) What sort of relevance was understood to underline the published translations, as propounded by the various presses at the time—in the ancillary material being published (like reviews and promotion pamphlets)? (c) What kind of Chinese “image” of Western literature was built up in this manner, in contrast to what might have been intended by members of the Swedish Academy? In other words, how might the reception of the Western literary canon have been different had it not been mediated by all the translation series in question?
The introduction of Western literature into China via translations is a crucial aspect of book publishing history in the second half of the twentieth century. Looking back at the special manner in which translations were published, it is clear that the effort was far from piecemeal and random: many series of works by Nobel laureates appeared in both the PRC and Taiwan in the latter half of the previous century. Many publishers, including the most prestigious ones like the Shanghai Publishing House and Crown Publishing Co., specialized in these large-scale publication projects. It turned out that much of the Chinese understanding of the West, built on the reading of so-called “world” masterpieces in translation, was derived for decades from the series of prize-winning works that dominated the publishing scene.
The present paper is an attempt to explore the three-way interaction between translation, publishing and reception, capitalizing on recent advances made in translation studies (by Gideon Toury and Johan Heilbron, among others) and book history research (by David Finkelstein, Roger Chartier, etc.). The questions to be examined include: (a) How successful were the translation series in marketing terms, as opposed to their usefulness in promoting a literary interest in Western works? (b) What sort of relevance was understood to underline the published translations, as propounded by the various presses at the time—in the ancillary material being published (like reviews and promotion pamphlets)? (c) What kind of Chinese “image” of Western literature was built up in this manner, in contrast to what might have been intended by members of the Swedish Academy? In other words, how might the reception of the Western literary canon have been different had it not been mediated by all the translation series in question?
Jeffrey CHILDS (Universidade Aberta, Portugal)
Developing a Poetry Collection in a Virtual Forum: A Case Study
Begun in 2008, the Poetic Strands project has sought to bring together two interrelated cultural processes which tend, nonetheless, to be carried out independently from each other: the conducting of an on-line poetry translation workshop and the preparation of a bilingual poetry collection, in this case centered on the work of the American poet Mark Strand. The involvement of both the Open University of Portugal and the University of Lisbon has brought to the project a range of educational contexts and technological possibilities, each of which has left its mark on the identity of the project. In this paper, I propose to look specifically at what the nature of this project has meant in terms of the definition of a traditional print-oriented poetry collection. How, for instance, has this traditional aim shaped the nature of the collaborative work carried out in a virtual forum? Conversely, what concerns and challenges has the collaborative nature of this project brought to the fore, and what strategies might be employed to deal with these? I will attempt to trace the emergence of these and other theoretical questions from their initial appearance as tensions or problems in highly practical, transaction‑governed contexts.
Begun in 2008, the Poetic Strands project has sought to bring together two interrelated cultural processes which tend, nonetheless, to be carried out independently from each other: the conducting of an on-line poetry translation workshop and the preparation of a bilingual poetry collection, in this case centered on the work of the American poet Mark Strand. The involvement of both the Open University of Portugal and the University of Lisbon has brought to the project a range of educational contexts and technological possibilities, each of which has left its mark on the identity of the project. In this paper, I propose to look specifically at what the nature of this project has meant in terms of the definition of a traditional print-oriented poetry collection. How, for instance, has this traditional aim shaped the nature of the collaborative work carried out in a virtual forum? Conversely, what concerns and challenges has the collaborative nature of this project brought to the fore, and what strategies might be employed to deal with these? I will attempt to trace the emergence of these and other theoretical questions from their initial appearance as tensions or problems in highly practical, transaction‑governed contexts.
António FOURNIER (University of Turin) & Thierry Proença dos SANTOS (University of Madeira)
Anthologies, translation and the search for overseas recognition – the Madeiran case
Among models from the past and today’s proposals, anthology works, in the pereniality of the ephemeral, as the possible ecology of memory or the prospection of soil in order to estimate its future fertility. Anthology, a repository of a collective memory and/or a bet on a new horizon of expectations, enables a literature to exist for its potential public. It thus relates literary creation to the semiotic community to which it belongs, redefining and recognising the contours of this territory, or suggesting the scenography of works to come, proposing itself as an open dialogue with the Other.
This last dialogue also includes the translation into other prestigious languages-cultures. Voluntarism and the quality of the operation of mediation are determining factors in the aesthetic and cultural enhancement of the proposed corpus, contributing towards its diffusion abroad, the conscious awareness of its reality and its internal legitimization. The Madeiran literary case will be specifically analysed, taking into account recent anthological experiences in the translation of short-stories into French and Italian.
Among models from the past and today’s proposals, anthology works, in the pereniality of the ephemeral, as the possible ecology of memory or the prospection of soil in order to estimate its future fertility. Anthology, a repository of a collective memory and/or a bet on a new horizon of expectations, enables a literature to exist for its potential public. It thus relates literary creation to the semiotic community to which it belongs, redefining and recognising the contours of this territory, or suggesting the scenography of works to come, proposing itself as an open dialogue with the Other.
This last dialogue also includes the translation into other prestigious languages-cultures. Voluntarism and the quality of the operation of mediation are determining factors in the aesthetic and cultural enhancement of the proposed corpus, contributing towards its diffusion abroad, the conscious awareness of its reality and its internal legitimization. The Madeiran literary case will be specifically analysed, taking into account recent anthological experiences in the translation of short-stories into French and Italian.
Margarida Vale de GATO (University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies, Portugal)
Upgrading the sebenta: the collaborative anthology in the literary translation course
Any set of texts used for translation training will end up displaying criteria that have been, to a greater of lesser extent, willfully introduced and that may be regarded as indicators of an anthological intention, albeit almost solely guided by didactic purposes – dealing with different types of text, varying degrees of difficulty, familiarity with literary trends, or illustration of the diversity of tone and register. In view of the indelible link between the anthology and the textbook, or even the stack of miscellaneous literature papers that the students are advised to photocopy and take to class (the sebenta, a popular compendium among the copyright outlaws of the Portuguese academia), it seems expedient to select literary texts for the translation classrooms within a pre-designed anthological context. In other words, it would be wise for the teacher to realize and try to enforce anthological motivations in the selection of texts. Such planning might be supplemented by the engagement of the very students in setting up the type and scope of the anthology, providing them with an opportunity for collaborative work which until very recently would have been unthinkable for the self-conscious literary translator, but more and more this represents an asset that the marketplace associates with “transference skills” – encouraging a disposition towards teamwork, a necessary talent for the editing of anthologies.
In this paper, I will present some examples from my recent experience in literary translation training, where open discussion in class and online forums (http://traduzirliteratura.blogspot.com/) prepares the ground for a collective publication envisaged as a pre-professional portfolio. I shall also present my current efforts to find ways of co-managing a more ambitious translation and editing e-learning platform, where students from different courses or institutions may engage in the production of translation anthologies that will fill some gaps or niches in the literary system while helping students develop their translating competence more efficiently.
Finally, I wish to discuss the kinds of anthologizing norms that would best suit this latter objective, considering that the thematic anthology is more suitable for the inclusion of different types of texts and the encouragement of intertextuality awareness, while anthologies devoted to a particular literary period, movement or group of authors are more marketable or desired by the community.
Any set of texts used for translation training will end up displaying criteria that have been, to a greater of lesser extent, willfully introduced and that may be regarded as indicators of an anthological intention, albeit almost solely guided by didactic purposes – dealing with different types of text, varying degrees of difficulty, familiarity with literary trends, or illustration of the diversity of tone and register. In view of the indelible link between the anthology and the textbook, or even the stack of miscellaneous literature papers that the students are advised to photocopy and take to class (the sebenta, a popular compendium among the copyright outlaws of the Portuguese academia), it seems expedient to select literary texts for the translation classrooms within a pre-designed anthological context. In other words, it would be wise for the teacher to realize and try to enforce anthological motivations in the selection of texts. Such planning might be supplemented by the engagement of the very students in setting up the type and scope of the anthology, providing them with an opportunity for collaborative work which until very recently would have been unthinkable for the self-conscious literary translator, but more and more this represents an asset that the marketplace associates with “transference skills” – encouraging a disposition towards teamwork, a necessary talent for the editing of anthologies.
In this paper, I will present some examples from my recent experience in literary translation training, where open discussion in class and online forums (http://traduzirliteratura.blogspot.com/) prepares the ground for a collective publication envisaged as a pre-professional portfolio. I shall also present my current efforts to find ways of co-managing a more ambitious translation and editing e-learning platform, where students from different courses or institutions may engage in the production of translation anthologies that will fill some gaps or niches in the literary system while helping students develop their translating competence more efficiently.
Finally, I wish to discuss the kinds of anthologizing norms that would best suit this latter objective, considering that the thematic anthology is more suitable for the inclusion of different types of texts and the encouragement of intertextuality awareness, while anthologies devoted to a particular literary period, movement or group of authors are more marketable or desired by the community.
Zsófia GOMBÁR (University of Aveiro, Portugal)
Anthologies of British Literature in Portugal and Hungary between 1949 and 1974
The aim of the present paper is to compare anthologies of British literature published in the two countries when both lived under different forms of dictatorship simultaneously. The initial year of the investigated time span marks the Communists’ final takeover of the Hungarian book industry, while the closing year denotes the end of the rightist dictatorial regime in Portugal. The paper contrasts the number of anthologies as well as the lists of selected authors and their works. Furthermore, it also attempts to provide possible explanations as to the two regimes’ different selection criteria with regard to certain British authors in the light of contemporaneous literary-critical discourses.
The aim of the present paper is to compare anthologies of British literature published in the two countries when both lived under different forms of dictatorship simultaneously. The initial year of the investigated time span marks the Communists’ final takeover of the Hungarian book industry, while the closing year denotes the end of the rightist dictatorial regime in Portugal. The paper contrasts the number of anthologies as well as the lists of selected authors and their works. Furthermore, it also attempts to provide possible explanations as to the two regimes’ different selection criteria with regard to certain British authors in the light of contemporaneous literary-critical discourses.
Cristina GÓMEZ CASTRO (Universidad de Cantabria, Spain)
The Reception of Anthologies of Science Fiction and Horror & Terror Tales in the Last Years of Francoist Spain: Censoring Aliens and Monsters
The last years of Francoist dictatorship in Spain (1970s) were a period of political change and of a slow evolution in the legislation concerning the censorship that was exerted over any cultural product during that time. Regarding the publishing industry, the kind of literature dominating the market at the time was mainly the one known as mass literature and a considerable portion of it was integrated by the translation of anthologies of science fiction narratives and horror and terror tales coming from North America. These had originally been published there as pulps with titles such as Weird Tales or Terror Tales, something which makes difficult today to trace the English version from which they were translated due to the inclusion in these magazines of different tales from different authors. When these anthologies entered the system of censorship they were closely watched regarding aspects such as sexual morals and language, two of the most controversial issues at the time of the dictatorship. Some of them encountered problems because of their depiction of sexually charged scenes or immoral attitudes. In this presentation, a brief depiction of the kind of anthological material translated at the time will be offered, together with the examination of some of these files with a descriptive aim in mind. Censored or not, authorized or not, the principal objective of the publishers of these kinds of anthologies at the time was achieved since thanks to them both genres became well known in the country and encouraged some Spanish writers to engage in the production of similar material in a process of pseudotranslation that confirms their importance in the recipient culture.
The last years of Francoist dictatorship in Spain (1970s) were a period of political change and of a slow evolution in the legislation concerning the censorship that was exerted over any cultural product during that time. Regarding the publishing industry, the kind of literature dominating the market at the time was mainly the one known as mass literature and a considerable portion of it was integrated by the translation of anthologies of science fiction narratives and horror and terror tales coming from North America. These had originally been published there as pulps with titles such as Weird Tales or Terror Tales, something which makes difficult today to trace the English version from which they were translated due to the inclusion in these magazines of different tales from different authors. When these anthologies entered the system of censorship they were closely watched regarding aspects such as sexual morals and language, two of the most controversial issues at the time of the dictatorship. Some of them encountered problems because of their depiction of sexually charged scenes or immoral attitudes. In this presentation, a brief depiction of the kind of anthological material translated at the time will be offered, together with the examination of some of these files with a descriptive aim in mind. Censored or not, authorized or not, the principal objective of the publishers of these kinds of anthologies at the time was achieved since thanks to them both genres became well known in the country and encouraged some Spanish writers to engage in the production of similar material in a process of pseudotranslation that confirms their importance in the recipient culture.
Mohammad REZA HASHEMI & Maziyar FARIDI (Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran)
Critical Translation Anthologies and the Case of Literary Translation in Iran
A large number of literary publications in Iran are translations of foreign literatures and it is quite justifiable to claim that these translations have played a pivotal role in the formation of Persian contemporary literary polysystem especially Persian prose fiction. Yet, this influence more often than not has been taken for granted and little research has been particularly carried out with regard to the history of literary translation in Iran. This study sets out to look at the significance of Critical Translation Anthologies in the literary and translation studies in Iran. A Critical Translation Anthology (CTA), as defined in this study, is a kind of anthology that not only includes excerpts from translations in a specific historical period, but also contains a critical survey of these translations with respect to their qualities as well as their influence upon the literary polysystem of the target culture. Production of such anthologies requires a careful investigation of a number of questions some of which are listed below:
1. What are the criteria for selecting a translation and excluding another? In other words, if a canon of literary translations is to be established, what literary and socio-cultural considerations should be taken into account?
2. What historical periods should be selected?
3. What are the major criteria for the assessment of the quality of the selected translations in CTAs?
4. What are the criteria for measuring the influence of a group of translated works on the literary traditions of the target language?
5. What is a logical order for the arrangement of selected excerpts in CTAs?
These are but a few primary questions that may occur to the scholars while working on an anthology of translation. The answers to these questions are to a great extent culture bound and as a result in this study the whole issue is looked at from the standpoint of the literary and translation traditions of Iran.
A prerequisite for CTAs is a unified history of literary translation. Therefore, in order to find appropriate criteria for the selection of translated works, in the first step, a research project was set off on the history of literary translation in Iran (from Constitutional Revolution in 1905 to 2008). Next, a general outline of the canon of literary translation is drawn, followed by a discussion of the impact of the translation system upon Persian literary polysystem in specific historical periods. Once the canonical state of literary translations is investigated, by means of comparing the canonized translations, some criteria for quality assessment of these works are obtained. In this way, the aim of generating a basis for CTAs in Iran is achieved. In a country where a great deal of its literary publications is devoted to translations, this study especially can have significant implications for the theories of canon formation, literary history and Comparative Literature.
A large number of literary publications in Iran are translations of foreign literatures and it is quite justifiable to claim that these translations have played a pivotal role in the formation of Persian contemporary literary polysystem especially Persian prose fiction. Yet, this influence more often than not has been taken for granted and little research has been particularly carried out with regard to the history of literary translation in Iran. This study sets out to look at the significance of Critical Translation Anthologies in the literary and translation studies in Iran. A Critical Translation Anthology (CTA), as defined in this study, is a kind of anthology that not only includes excerpts from translations in a specific historical period, but also contains a critical survey of these translations with respect to their qualities as well as their influence upon the literary polysystem of the target culture. Production of such anthologies requires a careful investigation of a number of questions some of which are listed below:
1. What are the criteria for selecting a translation and excluding another? In other words, if a canon of literary translations is to be established, what literary and socio-cultural considerations should be taken into account?
2. What historical periods should be selected?
3. What are the major criteria for the assessment of the quality of the selected translations in CTAs?
4. What are the criteria for measuring the influence of a group of translated works on the literary traditions of the target language?
5. What is a logical order for the arrangement of selected excerpts in CTAs?
These are but a few primary questions that may occur to the scholars while working on an anthology of translation. The answers to these questions are to a great extent culture bound and as a result in this study the whole issue is looked at from the standpoint of the literary and translation traditions of Iran.
A prerequisite for CTAs is a unified history of literary translation. Therefore, in order to find appropriate criteria for the selection of translated works, in the first step, a research project was set off on the history of literary translation in Iran (from Constitutional Revolution in 1905 to 2008). Next, a general outline of the canon of literary translation is drawn, followed by a discussion of the impact of the translation system upon Persian literary polysystem in specific historical periods. Once the canonical state of literary translations is investigated, by means of comparing the canonized translations, some criteria for quality assessment of these works are obtained. In this way, the aim of generating a basis for CTAs in Iran is achieved. In a country where a great deal of its literary publications is devoted to translations, this study especially can have significant implications for the theories of canon formation, literary history and Comparative Literature.
Zsuzsa HETÉNYI (ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary)
From „Russian obligatory” to „Russian unnecessary” – The rise and fall of an athology initiative
There was no modern history of Russian literature in Hungary after the WWII until the fall of the communist regime. Some outstanding scholars took up the task of writing and editing it in two volumes, (1999, literature until 1940) and (2002, literature after 1940) at the Universitas branch of Hungary’s largest state-owned publishing house for text- and coursebooks Tankönyvkiadó. The 1st volume was accompanied by a 700-page anthology of texts, while the 2nd volume’s anthology – a result of the 10-year work of many, also on 700 pages, with 100 mostly non-translated (because prohibited in the USSR) texts of authors, victims of censorship – was not published. A series of circumstances, social, legal, financial as well as professional, emerged as obstacles, and finally only a 240-page book appeared in 100 copies in the private publication of the editor (myself), who tells the adventurous story of this „failure”.
There was no modern history of Russian literature in Hungary after the WWII until the fall of the communist regime. Some outstanding scholars took up the task of writing and editing it in two volumes, (1999, literature until 1940) and (2002, literature after 1940) at the Universitas branch of Hungary’s largest state-owned publishing house for text- and coursebooks Tankönyvkiadó. The 1st volume was accompanied by a 700-page anthology of texts, while the 2nd volume’s anthology – a result of the 10-year work of many, also on 700 pages, with 100 mostly non-translated (because prohibited in the USSR) texts of authors, victims of censorship – was not published. A series of circumstances, social, legal, financial as well as professional, emerged as obstacles, and finally only a 240-page book appeared in 100 copies in the private publication of the editor (myself), who tells the adventurous story of this „failure”.
Christine LOMBEZ (Université de Nantes, France)
Translating German Poetry in French during the Occupation (1940-44): the Anthology of R. Lasne and G. Rabuse (1943)
How should an anthology of texts written in the language of the occupier be assembled in the occupied country? According to which literary criteria? For which readers?
This presentation will address The Bilingual Anthology of German Poetry. From its beginnings until the present by R. Lasne and G. Rabuse, published in two volumes in Paris by Stock in 1943 with a preface by Karl Epting (director of the German Institute of Paris and friend of Céline), offering a valuable account of Franco-German literary relations during the Occupation. The 1943 edition will also be examined in relation to the later 1967 “version” of this same anthology that had been meticulously expurgated.
How should an anthology of texts written in the language of the occupier be assembled in the occupied country? According to which literary criteria? For which readers?
This presentation will address The Bilingual Anthology of German Poetry. From its beginnings until the present by R. Lasne and G. Rabuse, published in two volumes in Paris by Stock in 1943 with a preface by Karl Epting (director of the German Institute of Paris and friend of Céline), offering a valuable account of Franco-German literary relations during the Occupation. The 1943 edition will also be examined in relation to the later 1967 “version” of this same anthology that had been meticulously expurgated.
Marcia Amaral Peixoto MARTINS (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Anthologizing Brazilian discourse on translation
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of collecting and editing the first anthology of texts featuring early translation theories by writers, critics, and translators who either were Brazilian by birth or had settled in Brazil. Translation practice began in Brazil in the sixteenth century, during the colonial period, with the arrival of Portuguese explorers who aimed to educate and convert to Catholicism the peoples of the newfound land. Among the first texts to be translated in the then Terra de Santa Cruz was the Catecismo Brasílico, rendered from Portuguese into the native language Tupi by the Jesuit priest José de Anchieta, who made some brief considerations about his translation strategies in a few letters to his fellow Jesuits in Europe. Anchieta’s writings are thus the initial landmark of the research for the proposed anthology. Once edited according to consistent criteria, a collection of theoretical or semi-theoretical writings on translation – that can be found in letters, prefaces/postfaces, critical reviews, interviews, short essays and similar texts – may provide an overview of discourse on translation in Brazil throughout the centuries, before the more systematic theorizing that started with Paulo Rónai in the 1950s. It is to be hoped that such an anthology will contribute to the historiography of translation in Brazil as well as make this history more visible in global Translation Studies. Studies of the history of translation theory, initially focused on hegemonic European languages and cultures, are now turning to Eastern cultures; as South America also has an exciting past as far as translation is concerned, even if not as far reaching, it is about time that this story be told.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of collecting and editing the first anthology of texts featuring early translation theories by writers, critics, and translators who either were Brazilian by birth or had settled in Brazil. Translation practice began in Brazil in the sixteenth century, during the colonial period, with the arrival of Portuguese explorers who aimed to educate and convert to Catholicism the peoples of the newfound land. Among the first texts to be translated in the then Terra de Santa Cruz was the Catecismo Brasílico, rendered from Portuguese into the native language Tupi by the Jesuit priest José de Anchieta, who made some brief considerations about his translation strategies in a few letters to his fellow Jesuits in Europe. Anchieta’s writings are thus the initial landmark of the research for the proposed anthology. Once edited according to consistent criteria, a collection of theoretical or semi-theoretical writings on translation – that can be found in letters, prefaces/postfaces, critical reviews, interviews, short essays and similar texts – may provide an overview of discourse on translation in Brazil throughout the centuries, before the more systematic theorizing that started with Paulo Rónai in the 1950s. It is to be hoped that such an anthology will contribute to the historiography of translation in Brazil as well as make this history more visible in global Translation Studies. Studies of the history of translation theory, initially focused on hegemonic European languages and cultures, are now turning to Eastern cultures; as South America also has an exciting past as far as translation is concerned, even if not as far reaching, it is about time that this story be told.
Ana Cristina MENDES (University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies, Portugal)
Canon Wars: The Vintage Book of Indian Writing vs. The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature
Selecting a title for a book necessarily entails exclusion and elision; to an even greater extent, the same proves true when editors compile anthologies of literary texts. Referring to Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West’s The Vintage Book of Indian Writing: 1947-1997 (1997), Graham Huggan perceptively inserts “in English” into square brackets and places this phrase at the end of the anthology’s title (Postcolonial Exotic 274). Huggan dramatically draws attention to the heavy ideological baggage that the selection of the title carries: this English-language anthology of post-independence Indian fiction consists almost entirely of texts written in just one of the many languages spoken in the subcontinent, yet still controversially purports to be a gathering of, in Rushdie’s own phrasing, “the best Indian writing of the half-century since the country’s independence.” By deliberately equating “Indian writing” with “Indian writing in English” – and in the process partaking in what might be construed as a reductive, unilingual understanding of post-independence literature –, Rushdie and West’s anthology stands as a conflict-ridden selection from the outset, an aspect compounded by, for instance, the fact that Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul is “regrettably absent from this book” not by editorial decision, but of his own volition.
On the surface, the process of anthologising is a response to a pre-existent body of creative works. There is, however, more to this than meets the eye, as demonstrated by both The Vintage Book of Indian Writing and its successor The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature, a rival anthology edited by Amit Chaudhuri in 2001 and including texts originally written in both English and the vernaculars. According to Chaudhuri, The Picador Book is not to be read as an anthology of the “best” modern Indian writing, but as a critique of the taken-for-grantedness of Indian literature. If we extend this critique to Rushdie and West’s selection, The Vintage Book is purportedly informed by a notion of the pre-eminence of Indian prose literature in English when it sets out its goal of including within its covers “the best Indian writing of the half-century since the country’s independence.” This paper focuses on these fault-lines as spaces where, in the past three decades, canon wars have been fought over what constitutes Indian literature. It follows that an interrelated purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which The Vintage Book and The Picador Book are constituent parts of a symbolic economy wherein diverse “agents of legitimation” grant cultural authority and even canonical status to writers and works, regulate the constitution of a literary star system, and facilitate success in a global market.
Selecting a title for a book necessarily entails exclusion and elision; to an even greater extent, the same proves true when editors compile anthologies of literary texts. Referring to Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West’s The Vintage Book of Indian Writing: 1947-1997 (1997), Graham Huggan perceptively inserts “in English” into square brackets and places this phrase at the end of the anthology’s title (Postcolonial Exotic 274). Huggan dramatically draws attention to the heavy ideological baggage that the selection of the title carries: this English-language anthology of post-independence Indian fiction consists almost entirely of texts written in just one of the many languages spoken in the subcontinent, yet still controversially purports to be a gathering of, in Rushdie’s own phrasing, “the best Indian writing of the half-century since the country’s independence.” By deliberately equating “Indian writing” with “Indian writing in English” – and in the process partaking in what might be construed as a reductive, unilingual understanding of post-independence literature –, Rushdie and West’s anthology stands as a conflict-ridden selection from the outset, an aspect compounded by, for instance, the fact that Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul is “regrettably absent from this book” not by editorial decision, but of his own volition.
On the surface, the process of anthologising is a response to a pre-existent body of creative works. There is, however, more to this than meets the eye, as demonstrated by both The Vintage Book of Indian Writing and its successor The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature, a rival anthology edited by Amit Chaudhuri in 2001 and including texts originally written in both English and the vernaculars. According to Chaudhuri, The Picador Book is not to be read as an anthology of the “best” modern Indian writing, but as a critique of the taken-for-grantedness of Indian literature. If we extend this critique to Rushdie and West’s selection, The Vintage Book is purportedly informed by a notion of the pre-eminence of Indian prose literature in English when it sets out its goal of including within its covers “the best Indian writing of the half-century since the country’s independence.” This paper focuses on these fault-lines as spaces where, in the past three decades, canon wars have been fought over what constitutes Indian literature. It follows that an interrelated purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which The Vintage Book and The Picador Book are constituent parts of a symbolic economy wherein diverse “agents of legitimation” grant cultural authority and even canonical status to writers and works, regulate the constitution of a literary star system, and facilitate success in a global market.
Maria Lin MONIZ (CECC – Catholic University of Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal)
Between translation and authorship: the invention of the Other. For the history of pseudotranslations in Portugal
Based on the paradigmatic case of the collections of adventure and mystery pseudotranslated by Mário Domingues and published in Portugal between 1930 and 1960, I intend to study the role played by such collections in the shaping / invention of the Other, in a dictatorial context rather closed to the “foreign”. Let me name, as examples, three collections published in the 1940s and 1950s: 1) “A volta ao mundo por dois aventureiros” [Travels around the world by two adventurers]; 2) “As autênticas aventuras de Anton Ogareff, o maior aventureiro eslavo” [The true adventures of Anton Ogareff, the greatest Slavonic adventurer] and 3) “Aventuras extraordinárias de Billy Keller, o rei do Far-West” [The extraordinary adventures of Billy Keller, the King of the Far-West].
Besides a large number of volumes, either translated or original, signed with his own name, Mário Domingues created several collections of adventure and mystery, presented as works by foreign authors (Henry Dalton, Philip Gray, Max Felton, Joe Waterman and many others) but which were, in fact, written by himself. In some cases, Mário Domingues has even created ficticious translators of his ficticious authors.
I will, therefore, try to unveil the motivations hidden in this game of masks, considering that pseudotranslations create, simultaneously, an authorial persona (pseudonym) and the (ficticious) memory of a text pre-existing in another language. I also wish to find out how such texts have met Toury’s concept of “culture planning”, considering that they might have filled in a gap, felt as “foreign”, in this kind of literature.
Based on the paradigmatic case of the collections of adventure and mystery pseudotranslated by Mário Domingues and published in Portugal between 1930 and 1960, I intend to study the role played by such collections in the shaping / invention of the Other, in a dictatorial context rather closed to the “foreign”. Let me name, as examples, three collections published in the 1940s and 1950s: 1) “A volta ao mundo por dois aventureiros” [Travels around the world by two adventurers]; 2) “As autênticas aventuras de Anton Ogareff, o maior aventureiro eslavo” [The true adventures of Anton Ogareff, the greatest Slavonic adventurer] and 3) “Aventuras extraordinárias de Billy Keller, o rei do Far-West” [The extraordinary adventures of Billy Keller, the King of the Far-West].
Besides a large number of volumes, either translated or original, signed with his own name, Mário Domingues created several collections of adventure and mystery, presented as works by foreign authors (Henry Dalton, Philip Gray, Max Felton, Joe Waterman and many others) but which were, in fact, written by himself. In some cases, Mário Domingues has even created ficticious translators of his ficticious authors.
I will, therefore, try to unveil the motivations hidden in this game of masks, considering that pseudotranslations create, simultaneously, an authorial persona (pseudonym) and the (ficticious) memory of a text pre-existing in another language. I also wish to find out how such texts have met Toury’s concept of “culture planning”, considering that they might have filled in a gap, felt as “foreign”, in this kind of literature.
Conceição PEREIRA (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Anthologies of Nonsense
Anthologies of poetry, whether they contain a single genre or cover a particular period of time, have a strong tradition in the UK and in the USA. This paper will focus on anthologies of nonsense literature written in the twentieth century. The first such anthology was collected by Carolyn Wells in 1902 and includes mainly eighteenth and nineteenth century English language authors. I will consider ten other nonsense anthologies, spanning from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century. All of these anthologies include texts written by authors from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but they present different periods of time; one begins with Aristophanes, others with texts by twelfth, fifteenth or sixteenth century authors, and only one does not include texts belonging to the oral tradition. In some anthologies nonsense is viewed as a very old phenomenon or as having always existed. On the contrary, the anthologies that only include texts from the nineteenth century onwards argue that nonsense literature began in the Victorian period with Edward Lear. The notion of nonsense as typically British is common to all anthologies, even those published in French and German. It is also relevant that in every volume an introduction is included, often along with a preface or afterword.
Taken as a whole, the nonsense selections in these anthologies imply an overall definition of the genre, which implies the formulation of an inaccurate theory of nonsense. Such a theory is unable to produce a suitable definition of nonsense as a concept or as a genre. This generalization explains the diversity of texts chosen by the collectors of nonsense anthologies as well as the few repetitions of authors and texts, except for Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. I will explore the consequences of such diversity of authors and texts for the construction of the genre of nonsense, along with a description of the theories implied in the introductions. I will also mention a recent anthology of Indian nonsense published in English and the project in process of an anthology of world nonsense.
Anthologies of poetry, whether they contain a single genre or cover a particular period of time, have a strong tradition in the UK and in the USA. This paper will focus on anthologies of nonsense literature written in the twentieth century. The first such anthology was collected by Carolyn Wells in 1902 and includes mainly eighteenth and nineteenth century English language authors. I will consider ten other nonsense anthologies, spanning from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century. All of these anthologies include texts written by authors from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but they present different periods of time; one begins with Aristophanes, others with texts by twelfth, fifteenth or sixteenth century authors, and only one does not include texts belonging to the oral tradition. In some anthologies nonsense is viewed as a very old phenomenon or as having always existed. On the contrary, the anthologies that only include texts from the nineteenth century onwards argue that nonsense literature began in the Victorian period with Edward Lear. The notion of nonsense as typically British is common to all anthologies, even those published in French and German. It is also relevant that in every volume an introduction is included, often along with a preface or afterword.
Taken as a whole, the nonsense selections in these anthologies imply an overall definition of the genre, which implies the formulation of an inaccurate theory of nonsense. Such a theory is unable to produce a suitable definition of nonsense as a concept or as a genre. This generalization explains the diversity of texts chosen by the collectors of nonsense anthologies as well as the few repetitions of authors and texts, except for Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. I will explore the consequences of such diversity of authors and texts for the construction of the genre of nonsense, along with a description of the theories implied in the introductions. I will also mention a recent anthology of Indian nonsense published in English and the project in process of an anthology of world nonsense.
Hanna PIĘTA (University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies, Portugal)
Translation of Polish literary and non-literary texts on the Portuguese book market: publishing houses, anthologies and collections
The main purpose of this contribution will be to reflect upon the differing motivations, goals and functions of publishing houses, anthologies and collections in the Portuguese reception of Polish literary and non-literary texts published in book form from the 19th century onwards. By doing so, the paper intends to contribute to the mapping of the Portuguese book market and its editorial practices. It also seeks to provide a broader understanding of the cultural exchange between Poland and Portugal.
Building upon Bourdieu’s theory of the field of publishing and his reflections on the international circulation of ideas (Bourdieu 2002), the paper will be structured in line with the methodological directions proposed by Gisèle Sapiro (2008). Particular examples and brief case-studies will follow, with a view to illustrating the points being made.
In the first part a succinct overview of Portuguese anthologies and collections comprising translations of Polish literary and non-literary texts will be presented. Special attention will be paid to Portuguese book series which include translations of Polish texts labelled as social and human science. Subsequently, the Portuguese publishers’ strategies towards translations from Polish language will be investigated. Drawing comparison between various lists of titles published in book series, along with evidence from archives and interviews with translators and publishers, will offer an empirical basis for the analysis.
In the second part the process of selecting particular Polish texts and authors will be carefully investigated, while taking into account the constraints and the specific economic, political and cultural stakes that determine their import and reception. At this point, special consideration will be given to the role of anthologies and collections in, on the one hand, canonization of such Polish authors as Henryk Sienkiewicz, Ryszard Kapuściński and Stanisław Lem and, on the other, legitimization of Polish writers sent into exile or absent, at some point, from the official literary circulation in the Polish source culture (such as Czesław Miłosz, Sławomir Mrożek or Andrzej Szczypiorski).
The main purpose of this contribution will be to reflect upon the differing motivations, goals and functions of publishing houses, anthologies and collections in the Portuguese reception of Polish literary and non-literary texts published in book form from the 19th century onwards. By doing so, the paper intends to contribute to the mapping of the Portuguese book market and its editorial practices. It also seeks to provide a broader understanding of the cultural exchange between Poland and Portugal.
Building upon Bourdieu’s theory of the field of publishing and his reflections on the international circulation of ideas (Bourdieu 2002), the paper will be structured in line with the methodological directions proposed by Gisèle Sapiro (2008). Particular examples and brief case-studies will follow, with a view to illustrating the points being made.
In the first part a succinct overview of Portuguese anthologies and collections comprising translations of Polish literary and non-literary texts will be presented. Special attention will be paid to Portuguese book series which include translations of Polish texts labelled as social and human science. Subsequently, the Portuguese publishers’ strategies towards translations from Polish language will be investigated. Drawing comparison between various lists of titles published in book series, along with evidence from archives and interviews with translators and publishers, will offer an empirical basis for the analysis.
In the second part the process of selecting particular Polish texts and authors will be carefully investigated, while taking into account the constraints and the specific economic, political and cultural stakes that determine their import and reception. At this point, special consideration will be given to the role of anthologies and collections in, on the one hand, canonization of such Polish authors as Henryk Sienkiewicz, Ryszard Kapuściński and Stanisław Lem and, on the other, legitimization of Polish writers sent into exile or absent, at some point, from the official literary circulation in the Polish source culture (such as Czesław Miłosz, Sławomir Mrożek or Andrzej Szczypiorski).
Marta Pacheco PINTO (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Cancioneiro chinês: The first Portuguese anthology of classical Chinese poetry
Referred to as a collection of (indirect) translations or lyrical adaptations, António Feijó’s Cancioneiro chinês (1890), literally the Book of Chinese Songs, is the first anthology of classical Chinese poetry into Portuguese. It was translated from Judith Gautier’s Le Livre de jade which, since its publication in 1867, has been reprinted five times (1902, 1908, 1928, 1933, and 2004). Widely popular among the late nineteenth-century French audience, Le Livre de jade, which recent research has shown to collect mostly pseudotranslations, combines a selection of what Judith Gautier considered to mirror China’s best poetry with her own notion of an oriental aesthetics. This book was extensively translated into other European languages: in Portugal the poet António Feijó (1859-1917) took up this challenge.
Briefly turning to the Orient in search of new poetic possibilities, António Feijó never visited the East, which did not prevent his Cancioneiro chinês from achieving national success. In 1903 he decided to publish a revised edition of the Cancioneiro (still based on the first edition of Le Livre de jade) – the only work to be republished during his lifetime. Yet the press was almost totally silent, most of the books having been ordered by and sent to Brazil. This collection allowed the poet to keep pace with French modern literary culture and introduced Portuguese audiences to new poetic material, thus fulfilling an informative, didactic goal. While it was influenced by the Parnassian aesthetics of prosodic perfection, pictorial and visual effects, and the cult of beauty, it allowed him enough leeway for poetic experimentation.
Based on José Lambert’s and Van Gorp’s model for translation description, our study will set out from a two-tiered textual approach: one concerning paratextual information (or preliminary data) and another developing a macro-level comparative analysis (special focus on text division and selection). Both analyses will permit us to understand the criteria for organizing the collections, which are particularly linked to a certain conception of the oriental canon. Since Cancioneiro chinês constitutes a milestone of orientalism in Portugal – albeit imported from French culture and literature –, the question arises as to what does the chinoiserie contained in the translated anthology tell us about the expectations of Feijó’s readers? Further, how to explain the critics’ silence after its second edition? Has the oriental topos suddenly become displaced? Does this anthology contribute to the target culture’s literary openness to the Other? Our paper will attempt to answer these and other relevant questions.
Referred to as a collection of (indirect) translations or lyrical adaptations, António Feijó’s Cancioneiro chinês (1890), literally the Book of Chinese Songs, is the first anthology of classical Chinese poetry into Portuguese. It was translated from Judith Gautier’s Le Livre de jade which, since its publication in 1867, has been reprinted five times (1902, 1908, 1928, 1933, and 2004). Widely popular among the late nineteenth-century French audience, Le Livre de jade, which recent research has shown to collect mostly pseudotranslations, combines a selection of what Judith Gautier considered to mirror China’s best poetry with her own notion of an oriental aesthetics. This book was extensively translated into other European languages: in Portugal the poet António Feijó (1859-1917) took up this challenge.
Briefly turning to the Orient in search of new poetic possibilities, António Feijó never visited the East, which did not prevent his Cancioneiro chinês from achieving national success. In 1903 he decided to publish a revised edition of the Cancioneiro (still based on the first edition of Le Livre de jade) – the only work to be republished during his lifetime. Yet the press was almost totally silent, most of the books having been ordered by and sent to Brazil. This collection allowed the poet to keep pace with French modern literary culture and introduced Portuguese audiences to new poetic material, thus fulfilling an informative, didactic goal. While it was influenced by the Parnassian aesthetics of prosodic perfection, pictorial and visual effects, and the cult of beauty, it allowed him enough leeway for poetic experimentation.
Based on José Lambert’s and Van Gorp’s model for translation description, our study will set out from a two-tiered textual approach: one concerning paratextual information (or preliminary data) and another developing a macro-level comparative analysis (special focus on text division and selection). Both analyses will permit us to understand the criteria for organizing the collections, which are particularly linked to a certain conception of the oriental canon. Since Cancioneiro chinês constitutes a milestone of orientalism in Portugal – albeit imported from French culture and literature –, the question arises as to what does the chinoiserie contained in the translated anthology tell us about the expectations of Feijó’s readers? Further, how to explain the critics’ silence after its second edition? Has the oriental topos suddenly become displaced? Does this anthology contribute to the target culture’s literary openness to the Other? Our paper will attempt to answer these and other relevant questions.
Alexandra Assis ROSA (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
The Short Story in English meets the Portuguese Reader: A Contribution Toward the ‘External History’ of Portuguese Anthologies of Short Stories Translated from English
The short story is the first literary form in which American writers excelled, and the first in which their critical theories predominated; the influence of Poe’s work especially spread throughout nineteenth-century Europe, and if towards the end of the century French, Russian, and British writers emerged to challenge American supremacy that merely emphasized the reciprocal nature of the exchange.
(Keating 1981: 19; my emphasis)
This paper aims to research how intercultural exchanges contributed for the development of the short story in Portugal. To researchers in Translation Studies, statements such as the one quoted above quickly bring to mind Itamar Even-Zohar’s well-known formulation that “no literature could manage without interference” (1990: 59). However, whereas it is rather easy to find similar statements on the importance of intercultural exchanges for the development of the short story as literary form, it is not so easy to find studies on the role played by translation in such exchanges.
In order to research to what extent Portuguese short story writing may have been influenced by interference especially by English-language literary systems through the indirect channel of translation, one must firstly launch the preliminary work of cartographing the translation into Portuguese of short stories. Within the framework of Descriptive Translation Studies, and as part of an ongoing research project, this paper aims to contribute for the external history of the translation into Portuguese of the short story in English, taking its publication in anthologies as a form of creative rewriting, adaptation or manipulation (Lefevere 1992: 8).
The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, it intends to provide answers to questions such as whose, which, when, where, by whom, why and how short stories in English were selected, translated and presented to the Portuguese reader. The cartography of such a territory will be based on the presentation and analysis of a selection of data (available at the Portuguese National Library archives) regarding the introduction of the short story in English through translations published in anthologies. Secondly, resorting to Gérard Genette’s definition of peritext – i.e. elements pertaining to the volume, such as title, subtitle, preface, postface, notice, foreword, notes, blurbs, book cover, dust jacket, etc. (Genette 1987)– , this paper proceeds to analyse the role played by peritextual discourses in a selection of anthologies. This analysis is expected to yield insights into how such anthologies introduced the short story in English to a public reading it in Portuguese version.
The short story is the first literary form in which American writers excelled, and the first in which their critical theories predominated; the influence of Poe’s work especially spread throughout nineteenth-century Europe, and if towards the end of the century French, Russian, and British writers emerged to challenge American supremacy that merely emphasized the reciprocal nature of the exchange.
(Keating 1981: 19; my emphasis)
This paper aims to research how intercultural exchanges contributed for the development of the short story in Portugal. To researchers in Translation Studies, statements such as the one quoted above quickly bring to mind Itamar Even-Zohar’s well-known formulation that “no literature could manage without interference” (1990: 59). However, whereas it is rather easy to find similar statements on the importance of intercultural exchanges for the development of the short story as literary form, it is not so easy to find studies on the role played by translation in such exchanges.
In order to research to what extent Portuguese short story writing may have been influenced by interference especially by English-language literary systems through the indirect channel of translation, one must firstly launch the preliminary work of cartographing the translation into Portuguese of short stories. Within the framework of Descriptive Translation Studies, and as part of an ongoing research project, this paper aims to contribute for the external history of the translation into Portuguese of the short story in English, taking its publication in anthologies as a form of creative rewriting, adaptation or manipulation (Lefevere 1992: 8).
The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, it intends to provide answers to questions such as whose, which, when, where, by whom, why and how short stories in English were selected, translated and presented to the Portuguese reader. The cartography of such a territory will be based on the presentation and analysis of a selection of data (available at the Portuguese National Library archives) regarding the introduction of the short story in English through translations published in anthologies. Secondly, resorting to Gérard Genette’s definition of peritext – i.e. elements pertaining to the volume, such as title, subtitle, preface, postface, notice, foreword, notes, blurbs, book cover, dust jacket, etc. (Genette 1987)– , this paper proceeds to analyse the role played by peritextual discourses in a selection of anthologies. This analysis is expected to yield insights into how such anthologies introduced the short story in English to a public reading it in Portuguese version.
José Antonio SABIO PINILLA (Universidad de Granada, Spain)
Anthologies on translation in Spain and Portugal: a critical review
The objective of the present paper is to critically review the role played in Translation Studies by 12 anthologies of texts on translation theory, published in Spain and Portugal between 1987 and 2009:
1987: Santoyo, J. C., Teoría y crítica de la traducción: Antología. Bellaterra: EUTI de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
1994: Vega, M. A. (ed.), Textos clásicos de teoría de la traducción. Madrid: Cátedra.
1996: Lafarga, F. (ed.), El discurso sobre la traducción en la historia: Antología bilingüe. Barcelona: EUB.
1996: López García, D. (ed.), Teorías de la traducción: Antología de textos. Cuenca: Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha.
1997: Pais, C. C., Teoria diacrónica da tradução portuguesa. Lisboa: Universidade Aberta.
1998: Bacardí, M., Fontcuberta, J. y Parcerisas, S. (eds.), Cent anys de traducció al català (1891-1990): Antología. Vic: Eumo.
1998: Catelli, N. y Gargatagli, M., El tabaco que fumaba Plinio. Escenas de la traducción en España y América: relatos, leyes y reflexiones sobre los otros. Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal.
1998: Sabio Pinilla, J. A. y Fernández Sánchez, M.ª M., O discurso sobre a tradução em Portugal: O proveito, o ensino e a crítica: Antología (c. 1429-1818. Lisboa: Edições Colibri.
2000: Gallén, E. et al., L'art de traduir: Reflexions sobre la tradució al llarg de la història. Vic: Eumo.
2003: Dasilva, X. M., Escolma de textos sobre a traducción en Galicia. Vigo: Servicio de Publicacións da Universidade de Vigo.
2004: García Garrosa, M.ª J. y Lafarga, F., El discurso sobre la traducción en la España del siglo XVIII: estudio y antología. Barcelona: Edition Reichenberger.
2009: Cartagena, Nelson, La contribución de España a la teoría de la traducción. Introducción al estudio y antología de textos de los siglos XIV y XV. Madrid, Frankfurt: Iberoamericana, Vervuert (Medievalia Hispanica, 13).
These anthologies, which to a large extent are products of the institucionalization and academic consolidation of Translation Studies, meet the follow characteristics of the genre:
- the compilers have had total freedom in their choice of texts
- the compilers have sought to offer a representative selection- the texts presented are generally fragments
- the texts are presented in chronological order
- the anthologies have been compiled to fill a perceived gap and respond to the need for adequate teaching and research materials
- the anthologies have been compiled as a complement to translator training and to provide the discipline with historical and theoretical foundations
After presenting the works themselves, I will try to answer the following questions: What types of anthologies have been produced? Which underlying historiographic positions are revealed as a function of the choice and presentation of the texts? Which canons of translation theory do the anthologies represent (which texts are repeated and, therefore, considered classics), Do any obvious rivalries exist between different cultural systems (Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese), What did the compilers intend to achieve by rewriting the texts in their anthologies? and finally, What role do these anthologies really play in Translation Studies today?
The objective of the present paper is to critically review the role played in Translation Studies by 12 anthologies of texts on translation theory, published in Spain and Portugal between 1987 and 2009:
1987: Santoyo, J. C., Teoría y crítica de la traducción: Antología. Bellaterra: EUTI de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
1994: Vega, M. A. (ed.), Textos clásicos de teoría de la traducción. Madrid: Cátedra.
1996: Lafarga, F. (ed.), El discurso sobre la traducción en la historia: Antología bilingüe. Barcelona: EUB.
1996: López García, D. (ed.), Teorías de la traducción: Antología de textos. Cuenca: Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha.
1997: Pais, C. C., Teoria diacrónica da tradução portuguesa. Lisboa: Universidade Aberta.
1998: Bacardí, M., Fontcuberta, J. y Parcerisas, S. (eds.), Cent anys de traducció al català (1891-1990): Antología. Vic: Eumo.
1998: Catelli, N. y Gargatagli, M., El tabaco que fumaba Plinio. Escenas de la traducción en España y América: relatos, leyes y reflexiones sobre los otros. Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal.
1998: Sabio Pinilla, J. A. y Fernández Sánchez, M.ª M., O discurso sobre a tradução em Portugal: O proveito, o ensino e a crítica: Antología (c. 1429-1818. Lisboa: Edições Colibri.
2000: Gallén, E. et al., L'art de traduir: Reflexions sobre la tradució al llarg de la història. Vic: Eumo.
2003: Dasilva, X. M., Escolma de textos sobre a traducción en Galicia. Vigo: Servicio de Publicacións da Universidade de Vigo.
2004: García Garrosa, M.ª J. y Lafarga, F., El discurso sobre la traducción en la España del siglo XVIII: estudio y antología. Barcelona: Edition Reichenberger.
2009: Cartagena, Nelson, La contribución de España a la teoría de la traducción. Introducción al estudio y antología de textos de los siglos XIV y XV. Madrid, Frankfurt: Iberoamericana, Vervuert (Medievalia Hispanica, 13).
These anthologies, which to a large extent are products of the institucionalization and academic consolidation of Translation Studies, meet the follow characteristics of the genre:
- the compilers have had total freedom in their choice of texts
- the compilers have sought to offer a representative selection- the texts presented are generally fragments
- the texts are presented in chronological order
- the anthologies have been compiled to fill a perceived gap and respond to the need for adequate teaching and research materials
- the anthologies have been compiled as a complement to translator training and to provide the discipline with historical and theoretical foundations
After presenting the works themselves, I will try to answer the following questions: What types of anthologies have been produced? Which underlying historiographic positions are revealed as a function of the choice and presentation of the texts? Which canons of translation theory do the anthologies represent (which texts are repeated and, therefore, considered classics), Do any obvious rivalries exist between different cultural systems (Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese), What did the compilers intend to achieve by rewriting the texts in their anthologies? and finally, What role do these anthologies really play in Translation Studies today?
Ana Marques dos SANTOS (University of Warwick, UK)
The importance of being anthologised. Oscar Wilde as a case-study for a reflection on anthologies of translated literature.
Anthologies and collections have been published in Portugal regularly at least since the late nineteenth century and have crucial functions within any given literary system. This is also true also of anthologies of translations, one function of which is the introduction of foreign literary authors and works to the target literary system – such as in the case of William Faulkner and Herman Melville, two authors whose first Portuguese translations appeared in anthologies, according to recent research.
This paper takes on the task of investigating another English-speaking author, one who has been even more intensely anthologised in Portugal – Oscar Wilde. Further to establishing whether or not anthologies or collections were the means by which the readers first got into contact with the Portuguese Wilde, the paper studies the ways in which the work of this author was presented to the Portuguese audience. According to Carlos Ceia’s ‘e-dictionary of literary terms’ and, more specifically, Eunice Cabral’s definition of “literatura confessional” therein, Wilde is illustrative of the fact that in modern confessional literature “a sinceridade da experiência individual posta em discurso literário visa sobretudo a vida do autor, esquecendo o texto,” since his work De Profundis has been considered a ‘documento humano.’ This label was assigned to the translation of the 1905 work by the publishing house Portugália Editora, when it decided to include De Profundis in the collection ‘Documentos Humanos.’ The fact that such an assessement is used as a justification for the way an academic researcher considers the literary work indicates the importance of the anthology or collection – and, implicitly, of the anthologist or organiser - as agents of the literary system. Furthermore, it exposes one of the ways in which anthologies take part in the process of formation of the translated literature canon.
This role played by anthologies is also closely associated with the selection of works being published and, particularly, its repetition amongst different publishers throughout time. Oscar Wilde’s case is again very useful, given that a large number of his major works were translated and published by rival publishing houses in their respective anthologies or collections, at approximately the same time. This is the case of, for instance, The Picture of Dorian Gray, translated as O retrato de Dorian Gray and published by Edições Gleba as one of the “Romances Célebres” and by Portugália in “Os Romances Sensacionais,” or, in the case of the short stories, “The Canterville Ghost,” which, in 1946, came out as “O espectro de Canterville” in the “Antologias Universais” collection by Portugália, but had been published only three years before under the title “O fantasma de Canterville” as one of the “Novelas Inquérito.”
The present case-study of Oscar Wilde’s presence in Portuguese anthologies further contributes to the study of the anthologists and translators associated with the different collections and publishing houses of the Portuguese versions of his work.
Anthologies and collections have been published in Portugal regularly at least since the late nineteenth century and have crucial functions within any given literary system. This is also true also of anthologies of translations, one function of which is the introduction of foreign literary authors and works to the target literary system – such as in the case of William Faulkner and Herman Melville, two authors whose first Portuguese translations appeared in anthologies, according to recent research.
This paper takes on the task of investigating another English-speaking author, one who has been even more intensely anthologised in Portugal – Oscar Wilde. Further to establishing whether or not anthologies or collections were the means by which the readers first got into contact with the Portuguese Wilde, the paper studies the ways in which the work of this author was presented to the Portuguese audience. According to Carlos Ceia’s ‘e-dictionary of literary terms’ and, more specifically, Eunice Cabral’s definition of “literatura confessional” therein, Wilde is illustrative of the fact that in modern confessional literature “a sinceridade da experiência individual posta em discurso literário visa sobretudo a vida do autor, esquecendo o texto,” since his work De Profundis has been considered a ‘documento humano.’ This label was assigned to the translation of the 1905 work by the publishing house Portugália Editora, when it decided to include De Profundis in the collection ‘Documentos Humanos.’ The fact that such an assessement is used as a justification for the way an academic researcher considers the literary work indicates the importance of the anthology or collection – and, implicitly, of the anthologist or organiser - as agents of the literary system. Furthermore, it exposes one of the ways in which anthologies take part in the process of formation of the translated literature canon.
This role played by anthologies is also closely associated with the selection of works being published and, particularly, its repetition amongst different publishers throughout time. Oscar Wilde’s case is again very useful, given that a large number of his major works were translated and published by rival publishing houses in their respective anthologies or collections, at approximately the same time. This is the case of, for instance, The Picture of Dorian Gray, translated as O retrato de Dorian Gray and published by Edições Gleba as one of the “Romances Célebres” and by Portugália in “Os Romances Sensacionais,” or, in the case of the short stories, “The Canterville Ghost,” which, in 1946, came out as “O espectro de Canterville” in the “Antologias Universais” collection by Portugália, but had been published only three years before under the title “O fantasma de Canterville” as one of the “Novelas Inquérito.”
The present case-study of Oscar Wilde’s presence in Portuguese anthologies further contributes to the study of the anthologists and translators associated with the different collections and publishing houses of the Portuguese versions of his work.
Teresa SERUYA (CECC – Catholic University of Portugal, Lisbon / University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Extra-European Literatures in anthology during the New State
The favoured way of organising and disseminating international literature in Portugal during the New State, was mainly through the kind of book based on the principle of collectionism: anthologies, collections, libraries. Collectionism involves a selection followed by an interaction among the chosen titles/authors/books taking place at reader level. The cultural change brought about by the anthologies/collections/libraries reveals at least two facets: the novelty arising from a new author/title/subject becoming available and the guidelines indicating the taste for and/or the canonisation of a particular author /title/ subject.
In this paper, I shall be concentrating on the anthologies containing short prose narratives (mainly short stories), although I shall first attempt to make a distinction between the anthologies and the collection on one hand, and the libraries and collections on the other. The main aim of the study will be to look at the literary anthologies situated outside the European space as they were less visible and therefore were the object of less study (with the exception of Brazil). I shall be examining anthologies composed of African, Chinese, Indian and Japanese short stories that were published in Portugal during the New State. Although to different degrees, this sort of literature represented the Other, the Strange and even the Exotic. Indeed, because translation is a powerful means of shaping relations between cultures, there is a lot to say about our relationship with these states of otherness. Furthermore, we cannot lose sight of the political dimension, for example in the African and Indian case, when taking into account the backdrop of our colonial history. How did our literary system deal with such far-off literatures? What authors were chosen from them? Were the readers already acquainted with them or were they a complete novelty? What image of the respective cultures was reflected in these texts/authors that had been chosen together with the paratexts which almost all the anthologies included? Who were responsible for the selection processes and how were the translators chosen? These are some of the questions this paper will try and answer.
The favoured way of organising and disseminating international literature in Portugal during the New State, was mainly through the kind of book based on the principle of collectionism: anthologies, collections, libraries. Collectionism involves a selection followed by an interaction among the chosen titles/authors/books taking place at reader level. The cultural change brought about by the anthologies/collections/libraries reveals at least two facets: the novelty arising from a new author/title/subject becoming available and the guidelines indicating the taste for and/or the canonisation of a particular author /title/ subject.
In this paper, I shall be concentrating on the anthologies containing short prose narratives (mainly short stories), although I shall first attempt to make a distinction between the anthologies and the collection on one hand, and the libraries and collections on the other. The main aim of the study will be to look at the literary anthologies situated outside the European space as they were less visible and therefore were the object of less study (with the exception of Brazil). I shall be examining anthologies composed of African, Chinese, Indian and Japanese short stories that were published in Portugal during the New State. Although to different degrees, this sort of literature represented the Other, the Strange and even the Exotic. Indeed, because translation is a powerful means of shaping relations between cultures, there is a lot to say about our relationship with these states of otherness. Furthermore, we cannot lose sight of the political dimension, for example in the African and Indian case, when taking into account the backdrop of our colonial history. How did our literary system deal with such far-off literatures? What authors were chosen from them? Were the readers already acquainted with them or were they a complete novelty? What image of the respective cultures was reflected in these texts/authors that had been chosen together with the paratexts which almost all the anthologies included? Who were responsible for the selection processes and how were the translators chosen? These are some of the questions this paper will try and answer.
Ibon URIBARRI ZENEKORTA (University of the basque Country, Vitoria, Spain)
Philosophical collections, translation and censorship
Translations played an important role in the introduction of new philosophical ideas in Spain from 1850 on, but the introduction of modern secular philosophy was more often than not in conflict with Catholicism, the dominant power in the symbolic field. Since there was little chance of publishing and publisizing such works in the established media the patrons of such translations had to establish their own publishing houses and book collections.
José Perojo, the first translator of the Kritik der reinen Vernunft (1883), founded a collection of philosophical works by authors such as Darwin which were included in the index of librorum prohibitorum. Antonio Zozaya, who died as an exile in Mexico, is another case in point. Another important figure is Ortega y Gasset, who did not act as a translator but promoted many philosophical translations as part of his activity in the renowned Revista de Occidente. This journal’s dynamic activity ended with the Civil War and the inner exile of Ortega y Gasset. Finally, Juan Bergua also initiated a collection of philosophical translations in the Republican period, which he had to abandon during the Civil War but retook upon returning to Spain from exile. This paper looks at how collections rather than individual publications play a significant role in the introduction of new European philosophical ideas in Spain. They are used as a tool to fight against a structural censorship system that favoured the dominating Catholic ideas.
Translations played an important role in the introduction of new philosophical ideas in Spain from 1850 on, but the introduction of modern secular philosophy was more often than not in conflict with Catholicism, the dominant power in the symbolic field. Since there was little chance of publishing and publisizing such works in the established media the patrons of such translations had to establish their own publishing houses and book collections.
José Perojo, the first translator of the Kritik der reinen Vernunft (1883), founded a collection of philosophical works by authors such as Darwin which were included in the index of librorum prohibitorum. Antonio Zozaya, who died as an exile in Mexico, is another case in point. Another important figure is Ortega y Gasset, who did not act as a translator but promoted many philosophical translations as part of his activity in the renowned Revista de Occidente. This journal’s dynamic activity ended with the Civil War and the inner exile of Ortega y Gasset. Finally, Juan Bergua also initiated a collection of philosophical translations in the Republican period, which he had to abandon during the Civil War but retook upon returning to Spain from exile. This paper looks at how collections rather than individual publications play a significant role in the introduction of new European philosophical ideas in Spain. They are used as a tool to fight against a structural censorship system that favoured the dominating Catholic ideas.
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