Literatura brasileira traduzida: o caso de infância de Graciliano Ramos em inglês

Abstract

The reception of Brazilian literature translated in English-speaking countries, except for some best-sellers, has been precarious and outside the market. The translations are often published by university presses or alternative ones. That is what happened with Childhood, by Graciliano Ramos, published under the title of Childhood, by London publisher Peter Owen, translated by Celso Lemos de Oliveira, a Brazilian with a doctorate from the University of South Carolina. The article examines the Ashley Brown preface and analyses three aspects of the translator’s options: lexical items culturally marked, lexical choices and the dual status of the narrator. Ashley Brown preface exalts Graciliano Ramos’ literature but reaffirms a simplified view of Brazil and the Brazilian culture. On the other hand Childhood, unlike most translations of Brazilian literature in the English-speaking world, presents a balance between naturalization and exotification, offering the reader, despite occasional problems, careful recreation of the complex fictional and autobiographic universe of Childhood.