Revisitando o Quarto de Despejo de Carolina Maria de Jesus: internacionalizando a literatura brasileira através da retradução

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation aims to propose a new annotated English translation of Quarto de Despejo: Diário de uma Favelada by Carolina Maria de Jesus, based on the analysis of cultural and stylistic elements in the source text. As specific objectives, this study discusses the extratextual aspects of translation, drawing mainly on Polysystem Theory and the concept of retranslation, as well as the intratextual aspects, through a stylistic and linguistic analysis of Carolina Maria de Jesus’s writing. This analysis considers issues such as orality, linguistic variation, the construction of narrative voice, and semantic prosody, in addition to debating and proposing a translation project. Through this new translation, the doctoral dissertation seeks to contribute to the field of Creative Writing by proposing solutions to problems identified in the previous English translation and by fostering the international circulation of Brazilian literature in ways that challenge historically constructed stereotypes and interpretative misconceptions. The theoretical framework is grounded in Polysystem Theory, developed by Itamar Even-Zohar (2013 [1979]), and in the concept of retranslation discussed by scholars such as Yves Gambier (1994), Antoine Berman (1999), Yves Chevrel (2010), JeanRené Ladmiral (2012), Li (2013), Faleiros and Mattos (2017). The doctoral dissertation also addresses the dimensions of literary consecration and rewriting within the international literary circuit through the work of Pascale Casanova (2010) and André Lefevere (1992), as well as discussions on authorship, using the work of Roland Barthes (2004 [1968]), Michel Foucault (2009 [1969]), and Giorgio Agamben (2007). The stylistic discussion is developed based on the studies of Efim Etkind (1967), Juliane House (1977/1981; 1997; 2001; 2009), Mona Baker (2000), and Gabriela Saldanha (2011), in addition to the contributions of Paulo Henriques Britto (2012) to literary translation and the concept of version. Finally, the doctoral dissertation presents a translation project grounded in the functionalist theory of Christiane Nord (2016), as well as a new annotated English version of Quarto de Despejo, produced from the edition authorized by SOMOS Educação, accompanied by an analysis of translation choices and the reception of the translation by beta readers.