“Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interference

This research delineates an interface between literature, plagiarism, and retranslation – having Jorge Luis Borges’ (1979) idea of creative infidelity as main theoretical framework – based on my own principles and experience as a literary translator. More specifically, I use the software WCopyFind f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Davi S. Gonçalves
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2019-05-01
Series:Ilha do Desterro
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/59943
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850276573032218624
author Davi S. Gonçalves
author_facet Davi S. Gonçalves
author_sort Davi S. Gonçalves
collection DOAJ
description This research delineates an interface between literature, plagiarism, and retranslation – having Jorge Luis Borges’ (1979) idea of creative infidelity as main theoretical framework – based on my own principles and experience as a literary translator. More specifically, I use the software WCopyFind for comparing my retranslation of “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (Bierce, 1886) into Brazilian Portuguese (2015) with both the original and João Reis’ previous translation into European Portuguese (2010) – bearing in mind that, before publishing my translation, I have also gone through the latter. Reflecting upon retranslation, translation, and literature, I get to the conclusion that no personal choice is devoid of external influences – especially in what regards the former. Variation is nonetheless inevitable, for texts are not formed only by words, but also by what surrounds them. The discursive strength of translation, therefore, resides in the troposphere of meaning, above what is written on the surface of a text.
format Article
id doaj-art-9cc277ed4c0845c3af046517d57ca764
institution OA Journals
issn 0101-4846
2175-8026
language English
publishDate 2019-05-01
publisher Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
record_format Article
series Ilha do Desterro
spelling doaj-art-9cc277ed4c0845c3af046517d57ca7642025-08-20T01:50:11ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaIlha do Desterro0101-48462175-80262019-05-0172210.5007/2175-8026.2019v72n2p29“Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interferenceDavi S. Gonçalveshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8825-2859This research delineates an interface between literature, plagiarism, and retranslation – having Jorge Luis Borges’ (1979) idea of creative infidelity as main theoretical framework – based on my own principles and experience as a literary translator. More specifically, I use the software WCopyFind for comparing my retranslation of “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (Bierce, 1886) into Brazilian Portuguese (2015) with both the original and João Reis’ previous translation into European Portuguese (2010) – bearing in mind that, before publishing my translation, I have also gone through the latter. Reflecting upon retranslation, translation, and literature, I get to the conclusion that no personal choice is devoid of external influences – especially in what regards the former. Variation is nonetheless inevitable, for texts are not formed only by words, but also by what surrounds them. The discursive strength of translation, therefore, resides in the troposphere of meaning, above what is written on the surface of a text.https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/59943
spellingShingle Davi S. Gonçalves
“Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interference
Ilha do Desterro
title “Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interference
title_full “Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interference
title_fullStr “Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interference
title_full_unstemmed “Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interference
title_short “Direct me, I beseech you, to Carcosa”: Literature, retranslation, and interference
title_sort direct me i beseech you to carcosa literature retranslation and interference
url https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/59943
work_keys_str_mv AT davisgoncalves directmeibeseechyoutocarcosaliteratureretranslationandinterference