J. Milton, M.-H. Catherine Torres (Orgs.) - Tradução, Retradução e Adaptação (2003)

ISSN 1414-526X
CADERNOS
de
TRADUÇÃO
Tradução, retradução e adaptação
John Milton & Marie-Hélène Catherine Torres (Orgs.)
Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Tradução- PGET

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Cadernos de Tradução
No 11 - 2003/1
Publicação semestral da Pós-graduação em Estudos da Tradução - PGET
ISSN: 1414-526X
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Comissão Editorial
Andréia Guerini, UFSC (Editor-Chefe) - Christiane Nord, FH Magdeburg - Cláudia
Borges de Faveri, UFSC - Edwin Gentzler, University of Massachusetts at Amherst -
Ines Oseki-Dépré, Université de Provence - László Scholz, Universidade de Budapeste/
Oberlin College - Maria Lúcia Vasconcellos, UFSC - Marie-Hélène Catherine
Torres, UFSC - Phillippe Humblé, UFSC - Markus J. Weininger, UFSC - Mauri
Furlan, UFSC - Walter Carlos Costa, UFSC - Werner Heidermann, UFSC
Conselho Consultivo
Berthold Zilly, Freie Universität Berlin - Else R. P. Vieira, UFMG - Francisco José
Magalhães, Assoc. Portuguesa de Tradutores - Francisco Lafarga, Universitat de
Barcelona - Giampaolo Tonini, Università di Trieste - João Azenha Jr., USP - José
Roberto O’Shea, UFSC - Márcio Seligmann-Silva, UNICAMP - Marco Lucchesi,
UFRJ - Maria Paula Frota, PUC, Rio de Janeiro - Maria Teresa Arrigoni, UFSC -
Maria Tymoczko, University of Massachusetts at Amherst - Mark David Ridd, UnB -
Michael Cronin, Dublin City University - Patricia Odber de Baubeta, University of
Birmingham, (UK) - Paulo Henriques Britto, tradutor - Paulo Schiller, tradutor - Pedro
de Souza,UFSC - Pedro M. Garcez, UFRGS - Stella Tagnin, USP - Steven F. White,
Saint Lawrence University - Thaís Flores Nogueira Diniz, UFMG
Capa
Dorothée de Bruchard
sobre ilustração do frontispício da Bíblia traduzida
para o francês por Lefèvre d’Étaples em 1530.
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(Catalogação na fonte pela Biblioteca da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina)
Cadernos de Tradução / Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de

Comunicação e Expressão. Pós-graduação em Estudos da Tradução. — no 1 (1996)
Florianópolis: Pós-graduação em Estudos da Tradução.
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Semestral
ISSN: 1414-526X
I. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Comunicação e Expressão.

Pós-graduação em Estudos da Tradução.
Projeto Gráfico:
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Editoração Eletrônica:
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Impresso em 2004
Apresentação 9
APRESENTAÇÃO
John Milton
USP
Marie-Hélène Catherine Torres
UFSC
Little theoretical attention has been paid to the subject of

Retranslation and Adaptation. In Routledge Encyclopedia of
Translation Studies there is no section on Retranslation. Adaptation
fares a little better, and the section on “Adaptation”, written by
George Bastin mentions a number of key elements associated with
adaptation: it is often associated with the belles infidèles concept of
translation; it is particularly common in theatre translation;
adaptations are often made in order to prevent a communication
breakdown, being linked to the skopos, the purpose; and the study
of adaptations look beyond linguistic transfer and will throw light
on the translator as mediator (Bastin, 1998: 5-8). These concepts
are developed by a number of contributors to this volume.
Two key statements on retranslation are Yves Gambier’s
formulation (1994, p. 414): “[…] une première traduction a toujours
tendance à être plutôt assimilatrice, à réduire l’altérité au nom
d’impératifs culturels, éditoriaux […] La retraduction dans ces
conditions consisterait en un retour au texte-source” {“[…] a first
translation always tends to be more assimilating, tends to reduce
the otherness in the name of cultural or editorial requirements […]
The retranslation, in this perspective, would mark a return to the
source-text”} and that of Antoine Berman, who distinguishes “deux
espaces (et deux temps) de traduction: celui des premières
10 John Milton & Marie-Hélène C. Torres
traductions, et celui des retraductions” [“two spaces (and two ti-

mes) of translation : that of the first translations, and that of the
retranslations”] (Berman, 1985: 116). After the work has been
introduced into the foreign culture, Retranslations will attempt to
get much closer to the source text. Another concept that Berman
mentions is the aging process of translations, resulting in the need
for Retranslations : “toute traduction est appelée à vieillir, et c’est
le destin de toutes les traductions des “classiques” de la littérature
universelle que d’être tôt ou tard retraduites” [“all translations will
age, and it is the fate of all translations of the “classics” that they
will sooner or later be retranslated”] (Berman, 1985: 281).
However, certain retranslations achieve a canonical status, and
are seen in themselves as great literature. Clara Foz, following
Berman, lists them: «La Vulgate de Saint Jérôme, la Bible de Luther,
l’Authorized Version sont de grandes traductions. Mais aussi le
Plutarque d’Amyot, les Mille et Une Nuits de Galland, le
Shakespeare de Schlegel, l’Antigone de Hölderlin, le Don Quichotte
de Tieck, le Paradis Perdu de Milton par Chateaubriand, le Poe de
Baudelaire, le Baudelaire de Stefan George » (Berman, 1990 :2).
According to Berman, these translations will not get old.
Meschonnic qualifies this: (1999: 22), «Les belles traductions
vieillissent, comme les œuvres, au sens où elles continuent à être
actives, à être lues. Même après que l’état de la langue où elles
ont été écrites a vieilli».
The papers in this volume show that Berman’s first statement is
something of a simplification. Later translations do supplement the
initial translation, but rather than each translation building on the
previous one, attempting to add another brick to complete the
complex mosaic of understanding the original, there will be a back
and forth movement. The first translation of a work may not
necessarily be facilitating. For example, in “Retranslations in the
Age of Digital Reproduction”, Kaisa Koskinen and Outi Paloposki,
describe the first Finnish translation of The Vicar of Wakefield as
being very close to the original.
Apresentação 11
They also describe the profusion of the different versions of The

Thousand and One Nights in Finnish. The real, the original Thousand
and One Nights is elusive: it does not exist in a one-and-only true
version. There are different layers, different oral and written
versions, different manuscripts, and the true nature of the tales
cannot be captured in any one of these. Instead, it exists in the
different functions assigned to the tales throughout time, with the
different versions supplementing each other: the scholarly, the
erotic, the romantic, the violent and the tame.
The most translated text in the world is undoubtedly the Bible,
which has been translated thousands of times. In “Retraduire la
Bible: Qohélet”, Inês Oseki-Dépré examines three French
retranslations of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the 20th century and
the Brazilian translation of Haroldo de Campos. Her analysis
develops the notions of parallels and translation horizon from the
point of view of retranslations.
Two very different retranslations, which may be seen to
supplement each other, can be seen in Clara Foz’
“(Re)traduction(s), (Re)présentation(s) : première et dernière sortie
du Quijote en français”, which describes two recent translations of
Don Quijote into French: Aline Schulman’s 1999 historicizing
translation, in which she cut out all words which entered French after
1650, and the 2001 team translation, under the supervision of Jean
Cavavaggio, which produced an academic edition with copious notes.
Koskinen and Paloposki look at the commercial reasons behind
retranslation. They extend John Milton’s concept of “Factory
Translation”, in which he examined the translations, many of which
were retranslations, of a Brazilian book club, the Clube do Livro,
which published monthly issues between 1943 and 1979 (Milton
2001). He stressed the assembly line and commercial elements of
such production. Nowadays translation tools will help the
commercial translator who is translating a document which is si-
milar to one that has been translated before, and Koskinen and
Paloposki emphasize the European Union as an organization where
one can find the characteristics of Milton’s “Factory Translation”,

which is “anonymous, collective, standardized and cost-effective”.
Another of the factors he mentions is recycling, and publishers, as
Koskinen and Palposki show, will often republish a translation which
has been printed before, and may be updated, usually just at a su-
perficial level, for the new volume. Nowadays, digitalization makes
it much easier to republish an already existing translation. This is
the norm common in the larger publishing houses, which are run in
order to make a profit, and of course, recycling an older translation
will be cheaper. However, a new translation may also be a
commercial strategy as it will attract more publicity. It is a new,
fresh product, supposedly “closer to the original” and “more
accurate” than all previous translations.
Another reason for retranslation is the desire for personal
emulation. Clara Foz mentions the reason behind Burton Raffael’s
1993 translation into English of Don Quijote was that he simply
believed that he could translate the Spanish masterpiece better than
his predecessors. This was an important feature of 19th and early
20th century translations from the Chinese, as seen in James St
André’s “Retranslation as Argument: Canon Formation,
Professionalization, and International Rivalry in 19th Century
Sinological Translation”. Rather than translating a variety of
different original works, European translators made translations
of the same works, often to outdo their predecessors. In this parti-
cular context, dealing with the very different language of Chinese,
translations into the different European languages were often seen
as one, and, with the dearth of sinologists, relay translations from
one European to another were common. Translators from different
European countries also worked against each other; British
sinologists, with an interest in Sanskrit culture, and who generally
translated more practical texts such as fiction, legal codes and
accounts of current events, and French translators, who had
translated classical Chinese texts, would openly criticize each others’
translations in notes and prefaces.
Apresentação 13
The importance of the paratext to give a very different initial

impression of the original work is emphasized by Marta Marín
Dominé in “At First Sight: Paratextual Elements in the English
Translations of La Plaça del Diamant”. The title, cover illustrations
and blurbs in the first translation, the retranslation, and the reprinting
of this translation gave very the potential reader very different
impressions: whether the novel was about an independent Catalan
woman, Catalan society before, during and after the Spanish Civil
War, the characteristics of Spanish or Mediterranean women, or a
story centred around love.
Sirkku Aaltonen’s “Retranslation in the Finnish theatre”
describes retranslation as an essential element of the theatre, where
different productions of the same plays, adaptations, and different
performances of the same production, automatically result in
multiple readings. And the audience will behave differently in every
performance. Two similar performances may be read, enjoyed,
appreciated in completely different ways. And the actual
performance is impossible for the researcher to capture; a video
recording will only give a taste. In Brazil, as in many other theatre
centres, directors like to make their own translations, or get someone
from the company to make an initial version. These performed
texts are then often difficult to find; few are printed; although some
thoughtful directors may make them available to researchers, the
majority don’t. And we know of no director who has made their
translation available on the Internet.
Aaltonen’s image of three discs will help us understand this
phenomenon: the largest one is the least precise translation, which
may be a printed text to introduce a play to a foreign culture, and
whose life span is long. This translation has no link to any specific
performance, but may be reworked for a performance, sometimes
by a well-known writer in the target culture, which may be a ploy
to attract audiences. In the second category, found particularly in
Aaltonen’s study of Finnish plays which have been translated into
English, the translator leaves the director with certain choices and
alternatives in key sections. The translator will thus avoid the

metonymic choice of the final text, leaving this choice to the director.
These translations are usually made for productions. The third type
is a retranslation for a specific production, in a certain place and at
a certain time. Such texts will initially be received orally by the
actors, and may be published at a later stage.
In “Traduction(s) et retraduction(s) portugaises de L’École des
Femmes de Molière”, Christine Zurbach examines the history of
translations of Molière’s play in Portugal. Like Aaltonen, she shows
that many of the versions have been made with specific
performances in mind. Zurbach also demonstrates that a study of
retranslations is an excellent way of examining the history of theatre
in a country such as Portugal.
The relationship between translation and adaptation is another
question raised by the studies. Descriptive Translation Studies,
particularly the work of André Lefevere, have taken away much
of the stigma of examining “lower” genres of translation such as
the translation of works of mass fiction, e.g., romance and detective
fiction, comics, and pop songs. And the boundaries between a
translation and an adaptation are not fixed. In “Translation and
Adaptation: differences, intercrossings and conflicts in Ana Maria
Machado’s translation of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll”,
Lauro Amorim uses this point in his examination of three
translations into Brazilian Portuguese of Carroll’s Alice in
Wonderland. Amorim directs his argument more to the discursive
space of each of the translations. For Sebastião Uchoa Leite, whose
work is linked to that of the Campos brothers, Haroldo and Augusto
de Campos, Alice should not be considered children’s literature.
By contrast, Brazilian writer of children’s literature, Ana Maria
Machado, adapts the universe of Alice to a Brazilian audience, and
the illustrations are similar to those which illustrate literatura do
cordel, folk ballads from the Northeast of Brazil. And although
Nicolau Sevcenko writes for a series for young teenagers and his
“translation” is called an “adaptation” on the cover, he makes little
Apresentação 15
attempt to condescend to the younger reader. According to Amorim,

the adapter will take on a different discursive role, and will be
present to a much greater extent. But the definitions are very fluid.
Despite adapting Alice to Brazilian reality, Machado herself does
not consider her work an adaptation, which, in her postface, is
linked to “abridgement”. Another point Amorim raises is that the
adaptation may often lead us to the original, but which original?
The source text, or the complete translation? And adaptations are
made from both.
This discursive presence of the translator/adapter is very clear
in the adaptations by the Brazilian author, translator and publisher,
Monteiro Lobato, which, as described in John Milton’s article, “The
Political Translations of Monteiro Lobato”, show the way in which
Lobato uses the technique of retelling in order to facilitate insertions
of his opinions on education, politics and economics into adaptations
for children of works such as Peter Pan and Don Quijote. Lobato’s
translations of Peter Pan were even proscribed by the São Paulo
state government!
Today adaptations for children are generally much more liberal
in terms of mentioning bodily functions. The recently published
Difusão Cultural do Libro Viagens de Gulliver [Gulliver’s Travels]
(Swift 2003) even contains an illustration of Gulliver urinating on
the palace. However, they may be much more sensitive in other
ways. The Melhoramentos adaptation of Oliver Twist alters Dickens
epithet for Fagin “the Jew”, to the much less racially loaded “o
Velho” [“the old man”] (Dickens: n.d.).
Marie-Hélène Torres’ study, « Panorama du marché éditorial
français : les traductions, retraductions, rééditions et adaptations
françaises de la littérature brésilienne », based on Anthony Pym´s
method of translation analysis show the diachronic distribuition and
frequency of translated Brazilian literature into French of first
translations, retranslations and reprints, concentrating on two
different translations into French of 19th century Brazilian José de
Alencar’s O Guaraní. Torres’ analysis rests on the « degré
d’adaptation, soit sur le degré d’anthropophagie traductionnelle du

traducteur », the extent to which the translator has adapted the ori-
ginal to his or her own culture, and/or, adapted the work to a
different genre. Thus, Machado’s translation of Alice would be an
adaptation, like the 1947 adaptation of O Guaraní, an ethnocentric
version, which adapts Brazilian specificity (history, language, fauna,
flora) to French language and culture.
This particular French tendency to acclimatize works from
foreign cultures is again examined in Erik Plourde’s account of
translations and retranslations of the Finnish national epic, the
Kalevala, into other languages. He details Gabriel Rebourcet’s very
popular 1991 adaptation into French, in which he “reterritorializes”
the story in France. Rebourcet also believes the French book market
has it own very specific demands.
The articles in this collection thus highlight a large number of
the concepts surrounding translation, retranslation and adaptation,
and we are very pleased to be able to have edited this volume, and
we would like to thank the editors of Cadernos de Tradução for the
opportunity to do so.
References
Bastin, Georges (1998). « Adaptation », in Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation

Studies. London: Routledge, pp. 5-8.
Berman, Antoine (1985). «La traduction et la lettre ou l’auberge du lointain» in Les

tours de Babel. Mauvezin: Trans-Europ.
Apresentação 17
_____ (1990). «La retraduction comme espace de la traduction», in Palimpsestes nº 4,

Publications la Sorbonne Nouvelle, pp. 1-8.
Dickens, Charles (n.d.). Oliver Twist. Clássicos da Literatura Juvenil. São Paulo:
Melhoramentos, n.d.
Gambier, Yves, (1994). ‘La Retraduction, retour et détour’, in Meta 39 (3), pp.
413–417.
Meschonnic, Henri (1999). Poétique du traduire. Paris Éditions Verdier.
Milton, John, (2001). ‘Translating Classic Fiction for Mass Markets. The Brazilian
Clube do Livro”, in The Translator 7 (1), pp. 43–69.
Swift, Jonathan (2003). Viagens de Gulliver, recontado por Fernando Nuno. São
Paulo: Difusão Cultural do Livro, 2003.
The politicals adaptations... 211
THE POLITICAL ADAPTATIONS OF

MONTEIRO LOBATO
John Milton
Universidade de São Paulo
Jmilton@usp.br
Abstract
Monteiro Lobato, enemy of the nationalist economic policies of the Getúlio
Vargas government (1930-1945), used his adaptations of children’s literature
in order to insert many of his political, economic and educational ideas. Of
particular interest are the retellings of Peter Pan and Don Quixote by the
liberal grandmother, Dona Benta, who encourages the children on the Yellow
Woodpecker Farm to think for themselves. Monteiro’s alter egos are the
naughty rag doll, Emília, who is always questioning and refusing to accept
the status quo, and Pedro, who intends to become an entrepreneur when
older. His sister, Narizinha, will belong to a new generation of liberated
working women. Indeed, the anarchy of both Peter Pan and Don Quixote
are appreciated by the children, and the negative comments on Brazilian
society in Peter Pan were partially responsible for Lobato’s imprisonment
in 1941. Peter Pan was also withdrawn from circulation in the state of São
Paulo.
Keywords: Monteiro Lobato, Peter Pan, Don Quixote, Dona Benta,
Adaptation.
Introduction
This article will examine the way in which the Brazilian

publisher, author of children’s literature, pamphleteer and
translator, José Bento Monteiro Lobato, adapted works of children’s
literature and inserted his own political opinions, which were very
212 John Milton
much against the nationalist and protectionist policies of Brazilian

dictator Getúlio Vargas, during Vargas’ first period in office, from
1930 to 1945.
Monteiro Lobato - “A Nation is made by men and books “
Lobato is the key figure in the development of the Brazilian book

industry, firstly at Monteiro Lobato e Cia., and then at Companhia
Editora Nacional. He was the first publisher in Brazil to attempt to
develop a mass market for books and to develop the book industry
as a consumer industry. Until Lobato, most publishing was in the
hands of Portuguese or French-owned companies, and the target
market was very much that of the Francophile middle-class elite.
Lobato’s initial success was with Urupês (1918), stories about
rural life inspired by his experience as a farm owner near São
Paulo, in which he introduced Jeca Tatu, the indolent yokel who
represented rural backwardness and ignorance. This was followed
by his first collection of children’s stories, A Menina do Narizinho
Arrebitado [The Girl with the Little Turned-up Nose] (1921), in which
he introduced his cast of children and dolls at the Sítio do Picapau
Amarelo [Yellow Woodpecker Farm]. The success of both books
was phenomenal and in many ways started the book industry in
Brazil. Urupês went into five editions, and the first edition of
Narizinho sold 50,500 copies, 30,000 of which were distributed to
schools in the state of São Paulo. By 1920 more than half of all the
literary works published in Brazil were published by Monteiro
Lobato e Cia., and in 1941, 1/4 of all books published in Brazil
were produced by Lobato’s Companhia Editora Nacional
(Koshiyama 1982:133). Lobato was a major public figure in Brazil
from 1918 to 1927 as, in addition to the success of these two books,
he wrote a regular column for the influential newspaper O Estado
de São Paulo and bought the middle-brow journal, Revista do Brasil.
Lobato believed that a growing book industry would greatly aid Bra-
zilian development, “Um país se faz com homens e livros” [“A nation
is made by men and books”] (Koshiyama 1982:99). People act through
knowing the human experience of other people, which is found in the
means of communication, especially books, and then acting on it.
But despite this exaltation of the book, Lobato had a hard-headed
commercial attitude to selling books, which he saw as commercial
objects which could be sold just as other goods were, in a variety of
sales points: “livro não é gênero de primeira necessidade... é
sobremesa: tem que ser posto embaixo do nariz do freguês, para
provocar-lhe a gulodice” [“Books are not staple products... they
are desserts: they must be put under the nose of the customer, to
excite his gluttony”] (in Koshiyama 1982:72); He managed to
increase the sales points for his works from 40, the total number of
bookshops in Brazil, to 1,200, including chemists shops and
newsstands. He innovated in terms of the visual presentation of the
book, and was responsible for much more attractive covers than
the dull yellow featureless covers which followed the French fashion.
Lobato stressed the importance that Brazil should give to its own
culture. He was always against following the dominant Francophile
culture, copying the latest Parisian fashions in art, music and
literature. He wanted to open Brazil out to German, Russian,
Scandinavian and Anglo-American literatures and translated and
adapted such works as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Robinson
Crusoe, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Gulliver’s Travels.
Lobato’s Companhia Editora Nacional, opened in 1925 after the
bankruptcy of Monteiro Lobato e Cia., which over-invented in
printing presses, also published works by Conan Doyle, Eleanor H.
Porter, Hemmingway, H. G. Wells, Melville, Jack London,
Steinbeck, and Kipling. Thus Lobato helped to initiate a movement
towards the importation of works written originally in English, which
would continue right up until the Second World War, when English
finally ousted French as the major foreign language studied and
spoken in Brazil. His publishing companies also published unknown
214 John Milton
authors, thus democratizing access to the publishing industry, as

getting published had usually meant the need for influence of friends
in high places or money.
In “Traduções” (Lobato 1964: 125-130) Lobato emphasizes the
spiritual enrichment which translations, and not only translations
from the French can provide, and mentions the scarcity of good
translations from languages other than French. At the time he was
writing very little had been translated into Brazilian Portuguese:
Lobato mentions the lack of translations of Homer, Sophocles,
Herodotus, Plutarch, Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller,
Molière, Rabelais and Ibsen. The Brazilian reader needs light, air
and new horizons, wide-open windows in his dark prison.
Lobato believed that Brazil should look to the interior, its own
folklore and own traditional myths. But the interior of Brazil needed
reawakening. Always the practical man, he encouraged vaccination
campaigns and improvements in basic sanitary conditions. The
government needed to stimulate investment in the interior, and the
country people themselves suffer from indolence, characterized in
his picture of the idle yokel, Jeca Tatu, who is in total contrast to
the idealized rural figures found in the works of José de Alencar.
From 1927 to 1931 Lobato was commercial attaché for the
Brazilian government in the US and was greatly impressed by
American economic organization and efficiency. He was a great
fan of Henry Ford and visited Detroit. Such mass production could
be used in the book industry. The way in which the US had taken
advantage of its mineral wealth, particularly iron ore, coal and oil,
showed Lobato what Brazil might be capable of if the country took
the correct steps, and developed its own oil industry, rather than
leaving it at the mercy of the trusts, especially the Standard Oil
Corporation. On his return from the US, Lobato invested all his
efforts and capital in oil prospecting in Brazil. However, these plans
were foiled by the onset of the hardening of the Vargas dictatorship
in 1937 and the advent of the hardline dictatorship of the Estado
Novo, when all prospecting plans were centralized and placed under
the control of the government, and Lobato’s financial losses were

considerable.
All the children’s literature which was available in Brazil when
Lobato began writing was written in the Portuguese of Portugal,
and the desire to provide stories his own and other Brazilian children
could read stimulated Lobato to write texts for his own and all other
Brazilian children. Lobato believed in developing the Brazilian
language, and that after 400 years of subservience to Portugal, it
was now time to definitively break away from Lisbon and develop
a separate Brazilian language.
Lobato’s retellings and adaptations
In a 1921 letter he mentions his plans to produce a series of

books for children “with more lightness and wit” (Vieira 2001:146)
than the previously published stories organized by Jansen Muller,
which he would rework and “improve”. Lobato was puzzled by the
language used in the Brazilian translations published by the French-
owned house, Garnier, and remarked “Temos que refazer tudo
isso - abrasileirar a linguagem” [“We must redo all of this –
Brazilianize the language”] (Koshiyama 1982:88), and he
recommended that the translator Godofredo Rangel took the liberty
of improving the original where necessary. Thus Lobato’s
translation technique is one of adaptation, using a more simplified
and colloquial language, which could immediately be understood
by children, Lobato’s target audience.
His adaptation of Don Quijote, Don Quixote das Crianças,
clearly shows his adaptation technique: The naughty rag doll,
Emília, Lobato’s alter ego, prises a thick book off the shelf, a
Portuguese translation of Don Quijote, which Dona Benta begins
reading to her grandchildren and the dolls. However, they and
Dona Benta herself find the literary style turgid. After hearing
“lança em cabido, adarga antiga, galgo corridor” (Monteiro
216 John Milton
Lobato 1957:16), Emília, who, like Lobato, is against everything

which is old-fashioned and backward, fails to understand anything,
loses interest and is ready to go off and play hide and seek. So,
Dona Benta herself retells the story to the children. This retelling
and adaptation also takes place in Peter Pan, La Fontaine’s Fábulas
(1969) and Historias de Tia Nastásia (1968), while Robinson Crusoe
(1930), Gulliver’s Travels (1937), Alice no País das Maravilhas
[Alice in Wonderland] and Alice no País do Espelho [Alice through
the Looking Glass] are adapted with no interventions. Near the
end of D. Quixote das Crianças, Pedrinho asks whether his
grandmother Dona Benta is telling all the story or just parts, and
Dona Benta replies that only mature people should attempt to read
the whole work, and that only what will entertain children’s
imagination should be included in such versions (Monteiro Lobato
1957:152). “Literary” qualities have no place in a work for children,
whose imaginations should be stimulated by fluent, easy language.
In a 1943 letter, Lobato describes the difficulties he had to
extirpar a “literatura” de meus livros infantis. A cada revisão

nova mato, como quem mata pulgas, todas as literaturas que
ainda as estragam. O último submetido a tratamento foram As
Fábulas. Como achei pedante e requintado! De lá raspei quase
um quilo de “literatura” e mesmo assim ficou alguma...
(Abramovich 1982:152)
[get rid of the “literature” in my children’s books. With each

revision, I kill, just like someone who is killing fleas, all the
literatures which are spoiling them. The last one I did was
Aesop’s Fables. How pedantic and sophisticated it was. I
managed to shave off almost a kilo of “literature”, but there
was still some left...]
In Peter Pan and D. Quixote das Crianças this intimate contact

with the story is emphasized through the interaction the listeners
have with the story and the characters. Lobato uses the technique
of Sherazade, with Dona Benta interrupting the story every night at
nine o’clock, bedtime, and promising more entertainment for the
next evening. The listeners get caught up with the stories: In Peter
Pan, Emília makes a hook to put on her hand. In D. Quixote das
Crianças, she dresses up as Don Quijote, and attacks the hens and
the cook, saying she is the giant Freston; Pedrinho, Lobato’s other
alter ego, gets involved in books in the same way as Don Quijote
does. After reading the history of Charlemagne, he says that Roldon
became incarnated in him as he got an old sword, went to the corn
plantation, and, thinking the corn plants are 300,000 moors, cut
them all down (Monteiro Lobato 1957: 94-95).
Lobato’s work is overtly didactic as he is always placing his pet
themes in the middle of the story. One of the most prominent is that
of expanding the book market in Brazil. At the beginning of Peter
Pan, the children, Pedrinho and Narizinho, and the doll, Emília,
having heard about Peter Pan in As Reinações de Narizinho [The
Reigns of Narizinho] , ask their grandmother, Dona Benta, who
Peter Pan is. As Dona Benta doesn’t know, she writes to a bookshop
in São Paulo, who send her Barrie’s work in English. Lobato thus
inserts an advertisement for mail orders for book shops, and then
Dona Benta retells the story to the children and dolls in Portuguese,
thus re-enacting in the book the situation of an oral retelling. Pedrinho
has also inherited Lobato’s entrepreneurial spirit as he intends to
set up a toy factory when he grows up, and market a variety of
dolls, including copies of those at the Sítio do Picapau Amarelo
(Monteiro Lobato 1957: 12).
Lobato introduces vocabulary extension exercises as Dona Benta
explains “pigmento (Monteiro Lobato 1971: 22), cinegética [re-
lated to hunting] (Monteiro Lobato 1971: 60), “excêntrico” (85), the
use of “líquido” in “uma questão líquida” (Monteiro Lobato 1971:
59), and “interpolada” (Monteiro Lobato 1957: 190), References to
Marie Antoinette (Monteiro Lobato 1971:30), the etymology of the
name of Captain Hook’s ship, “Hiena dos Mares” [“Hyena of the
218 John Milton
Seas”] (Monteiro Lobato 1971: 75), the background to Cervantes

writing Don Monteiro Lobato 1957: 100), the explanation of stalac-
tites and stalagmites (Monteiro Lobato 1971: 59), the different for-
mats of books: folio, in octavo etc. (Monteiro Lobato 1957: 152-3),
also broaden the general knowledge of the reader.
In Aventuras de Hans Staden, a retelling of one of the early
adventurers in Brazil he uses the same technique, with Dona Benta
explaining nautical terms like “zarpar” [“weigh anchor”] (Monteiro
Lobato 1954: 13-14), historical features such as the war between
Spain and France in the 16th century (Monteiro Lobato 1954: 14),
the different types of miles (Monteiro Lobato 1954: 18), the mean-
ing of “epopéia” [“epopee”]. Dona Benta always tries to open up
the horizons of her grandchildren, encouraging them to read
Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle and openly discussing the
anthrophagy of the various Indian tribes in Brazil. Indeed, Hans
Staden spends such a large amount of time waiting to be eaten that
it would be difficult to avoid this theme!
Narizinho says she enjoys Peter Pan because it is a modern
story, funnier and so different from the traditional stories of
Grimm, Andersen, Perrault, with their never-ending succession
of kings, queens, princes, princesses and fairies, thus reflecting
Lobato’s attempts to renovate Brazilian children’s literature
(Monteiro Lobato 1971: 28). Histórias de Tia Nastácia contains a
selection of such traditional folk tales retold by Tia Nastácia, the
black cook, who is semi-literate, superstitious, religious, and
somewhat looked down upon by Lobato as a representative of the
Jeca Tatu indolent backward Brazilian mentality. After Peter Pan,
Emília is more demanding and also dislikes those tales with princes
and magical transformations. The tales are a mixture of traditional
Portuguese folk tales, traditional Brazilian animal fables, often
based on those of La Fontaine, which were collected by Silvio
Romero from the Northeast of Brazil. Many of them reflect the
conservative Jeca Tatu mentality, with Dona Benta telling us that
they have been passed down uncritically from generation to
generation, usually by people who are illiterate. Only those who

can read “e lê bons livros, é que se põe de acordo com os
progressos que as ciências trouxeram ao mundo [and read good
books can keep up-to-date with the progress that the sciences have
brought to the world] (Lobato 1968: 81). After the first tale Emília
turns her nose up and says “Essas histórias folclóricas sáo bastante
bobas [...] Por isso náo sou “democrática”! Acho o povo muito
idiota... [These folk tales are silly […] That’s why I’m not
“democratic”! I think the people are pretty stupid…] (Lobato
1968: 16). Narizinho also says that she has become much more
demanding since she read Peter Pan. By contrast, Pedrinho, the
future intellectual, takes a detached anthropological view, stating
that the stories are good in order to study the mentality of the
Brazilian people. Indeed, Pedrinho has already begun to read
Darwin, talking about the survival of the fittest (Lobato 1968: 95).
This kind of liberal education is encouraged by Dona Benta, who
takes no notice of Tia Nastácia’s criticism that the children are
“ficando os maiores hereges deste mundo. Chegam até a defender
o canhoto, credo!...” (“becoming the worst heretics in the world.
They even defend the Devil!”) after a story called “O Bom Diabo”
(“The Good Devil”). Dona Benta shrugs this remark off, “[...] se
você conta mais três histórias de diabo como essa, até eu sou capaz
de dar um viva ao canhoto” (“[...] if you tell another three stories
about the devil like this one, I might even cheer him!”) (Lobato
1968: 73).
Lobato and Politics
Lobato was no friend of the Estado Novo nationalist government

of Getúlio Vargas, who despised him for his internationalism, his
constant negative comparisons of Brazil to the US and the UK, his
atheism, and his continual meddling. In March 1941 Lobato was
accused of sending an insulting letter to dictator Getúlio Vargas,
220 John Milton
the President of the Republic, and General Gois Monteiro, and

was imprisoned for six months, of which he served three, despite
considerable protest from intellectuals against his imprisonment.
Lobato’s Peter Pan suffered considerable political problems. In
June 1941, a São Paulo state public prosecutor, Dr. Clóvis Kruel
de Morais, reported to the Tribunal de Segurança Nacional in favour
of prohibiting the distribution of Peter Pan as it would give children
the wrong opinion of the government of Brazil and gave an
impression that Brazil was an inferior country to Britain.
When the narrator, Dona Benta, compares Brazilian children to
English children, she says that, unlike Brazilian children, all English
children have a special room of their own, a nursery, which will be
full of toys, have special furniture and wallpaper. By contrast, the
room of the Brazilian child will be “um quarto qualquer e por isso
não tem nome especial” (Monteiro Lobato 1971: 59), thus demon-
strating the inferiority of living conditions of Brazilian children.
Likewise, he compares heating systems. In forward-looking cold
countries all houses have central heating, and not an open hearth.
Although central heating is not needed in most parts of Brazil, it is
clearly one of the “países atrasados” (Monteiro Lobato 1971: 59-
60).
A further passage in which Lobato betrays Brazil is when Emília
asks whether English children play with a “boi de xuxu”, a toy
animal made by sticking pieces of wood into a vegetable, common
in country areas in Brazil where children had to improvise toys out
of odds and ends. One of the main characters of Lobato’s children’s
stories is the doll Visconde, who is made from an old shuck of corn
(Monteiro Lobato 1971: 12). Dona Benta replies that English chil-
dren are very spoilt and are given the toys they want, and that they
are not incredibly expensive, as they are in Brazil. High-quality Ger-
man toys made in Nuremberg are also praised. Whereas, in Brazil,
the toy industry is only just beginning. Of course, here, as in the
section quoted, Lobato is inserting his opinions against the economic
protectionism of Getúlio Vargas’ Estado Novo government.
Another report for the Tribunal de Segurança Nacional [Na-

tional Security Tribunal], made by Tupy Caldas, accused Lobato’s
works of being excessively materialistic, and lacking any kind of
spiritualism, and recommended they should be banned as they were
dangerous to the national educational programme as they failed to
contribute to the formation of a “juventude patriótica, continuadora
da tradição cristã, unificadora da Pátria” [patriotic youth, continuing
the Christian tradition, and unifying the motherland”]. Vargas
himself, aware of the possible role which books could play,
underlined this very danger:
Todo e qualquer escrito capaz de desvirtuar esse programa é

perigoso para o futuro da nacionalidade. O nosso mal até aqui foi
justamente dar liberdade excessiva aos escritores, quando é o
livro o mais forte veículo de educação. (in Carneiro 1997: 76)
[All written matter which may pervert this programme is

dangerous for the future of the nationality. Our problem until
now has been that we have given excessive freedom to our
writers, when the book is the most powerful means of
education.]
Both Peter Pan and Don Quijote can be seen as anarchic figures,
failing to respect authority. Pedrinho says of Don Quijote: “- O que
eu gosto em D. Quixote - observou Pedrinho, é que êle não respeita
cara. Mêdo não é com ele. Seja clérigo, seja moinho de vento, seja
arrieiro, êle vai de lança e espada em cima, como se fôssem
carneiros.” [What I like in Don Quixote is that he doesn’t respect
anybody. He’s not one to be afraid. Whether it’s a priest, a windmill,
or a mule-driver, he goes at them with his lance and spear as if
they are sheep.”] (Monteiro Lobato 1957: 91).
On many other occasions Lobato in his adaptations Lobato makes
implicit criticism of the corrupt Brazilian political system, and the
excessive powers of the large latifundiários, the coronéis. Pedrinho
222 John Milton
is surprised to find that there were coroneis in the 16th century, and
Dona Benta replies that there were fewer than nowadays “e
melhores, como esse Tomé de Sousa, que foi um benemérito” [“and
better, like this Tomé de Sousa, who was a worthy man”] (Monteiro
Lobato 1954: 56). She also questions the orthodox view of history:
replying to Pedrinho`s question of why the Spanish and Portuguese
conquistadores are seen as great and glorious heroes, she
emphasizes that it is they themselves who have written history
In his adaptations of La Fontaine’s Fables, Fábulas, lack of social
justice can be clearly seen. In “Os animais e o peste” (“The Animals
and the Plague”). the only animal to be punished and sent to its
death is the ass, who is judged to have committed the worst crime
of all, “[...] não pode haver crime maior do que furtar a sacratíssima
couve do senhor vigário” “([…] there can’t be anything worse than
stealing the very sacred cabbage of the vicar”) (Monteiro Lobato
1969: 92). After each of the tales, the children make comments
and judgments. In “A Mosca e a Formiguinha” (“The Fly and the
Ant”), Visconde, the professor-like doll, made form a corn shuck,
comments: “[...] Mas muitas vezes um planta e quem colhe é o
outro...” (“[...] But often one person plants and another harvests”)
( Monteiro Lobato 1969: 100). In “O Lobo e o Cordeiro” (“The
Wolf and the Lamb”), La Fontaine’s most famous tale, in which
the lamb, through fear, can never contradict the wolf, Dona Benta
explains that the fable “[...] revela a essência do mundo. O forte
tem sempre razão. Contra a força não há argumentos” (“reveals
the essence of the world. The one who is strong is always right.
There are no arguments against force”) (Monteiro Lobato 1969:
138). And in “O Cavalo e o Burro” (“The Horse and the Ass”) she
teaches the meaning of the word “solidaridade” (“solidarity”)
Lobato’s anti-clericalism was not surprisingly unpopular with
the right-wing of the Catholic Church, whose views can be seen in
Padre Sales Brasil’s A Literatura Infantil de Monteiro Lobato ou
Comunismo para Crianças [The Children’s Literature of Monteiro

Lobato or Communism for Children] in which he accused Lobato of
encouraging the Communist revolution, bad manners within the
family, atheism, and rebellion against the right to private property.
As a result of the instructions given by the Tribunal de Segurança
Nacional, the São Paulo Department of Social and Political Order
(DEOPS) apprehended and confiscated all the copies of Peter Pan
it could find in the state of São Paulo.
Another factor which contributed to Lobato’s imprisonment was
the interview he gave to the BBC London in 1940 or 1941, in which
he emphasizes the indebtedness of Brazil to England. “ No Brasil
veneramos de coração a Inglaterra porque desde os começos da
nossa historia vimo-la interessar-se por nós e cooperar para o
nosso desenvolvimento” [“In Brazil we venerate England in our
hearts as from the beginning of our history we have seen that England
has been interested in Brazil and has cooperated in our development”]
(Monteiro Lobato 1951:173). Britain gave Brazil its railways, ports,
its development capital, a parliamentary model during the reign of
Dom Pedro II, civil liberties, habeas corpus, and leading figures
such as Zacarias de Goes, Cotegipe, Barão de Rio Branco , Saraiva
and Paranaguá, and especially the leading jurist and orator, Ruy
Barbosa, were all anglophiles. “A palavra “inglês” sempre foi, e
contua sendo, um sinónimo de solidez, lealidade e resistência a
novidades mal cosidas” (“The word “English” has always been,
and still is, a synonym of solidity, loyalty and resistance to badly
thought out novelties (Monteiro Lobato 1951:175). And Lobato
remarks that that all these qualities of calm and resistance, depicted
in Kipling’s “ If…”, which had recently attracted considerable
attention and a number of translations in Brazil, were now necessary
for England in the Second World War. It is implicit that, in the
same way that the Nazis have threatened these great English values,
Vargas’ Estado Novo dictatorship has resulted in the loss of such
values in Brazil:
224 John Milton
…a humanidade tonteia diante do surto dos valores da violência

(…) O justo passa a injusto, o certo é o errado e o errado o
certo; o bom é o mau e o mau é o bom; o pensamento livre é
o crime e a delação é a virtude; a história é falseada nas
escolas para que também se torne instrumento dessa obra de
inversão de todo (sic) os valores.
…humanity is shaken at the rapid increase of violent values

(...) The just becomes unjust, the right is wrong, and the wrong
is right; the good is bad and the bad is good; free thought is a
crime, and denunciation is a virtue; history is falsified in schools
so that it also becomes an instrument of inverting all values”
(Lobato 1951: 175-6).
But though England may be at war, and though threatened by the

concentration camp, it has managed to plant “a arvore da dignidade
humana” (“the tree of human dignity”) (Monteiro Lobato 1951: 176)
in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Lobato and Anthropophagy
In Lobato’s adaptations we see a very important way in which a

developing nation like Brazil will use original works from the First
World. Lobato adapts the original stories, he changes the original
emphasis; in D. Quixote das Crianças he “translates” the original
difficult Portuguese into a much simpler and more readable
language. Today, he says “usamos a linguagem a mais simplificada
possível, como a de Machado de Assis, que é o nosso grande
mestre” [“we use the most simplified language possible, like that
of Machado de Assis, our great master]. By contrast, Portuguese
classical writers used a much richer language and more complex
constructions (Monteiro Lobato 1957: 190-1). In Peter Pan Lobato
makes comparisons with the Brazilian reality, as, for example,
when the North American redskins are compared to Brazilian In-

dians and comparing them to the caboclos (half-Indians).
In 1928 Oswald de Andrade published the Manifesto
Antropofágico, in which he presented the image of the Brazilian
cannibal, who would “devour” the enemy, so he could take over
his soul. Thus the Brazilian writer, like the cannibal, would not
take in the foreign influence in a passive way, but rather by
transforming it into something new. The original will be actively
swallowed and reproduced in a different form.
Adriana Vieira compares Lobato’s “anthropophagy” to that of
Haroldo and Augusto de Campos (Vieira 2001: 153). Though Lobato
is adapting popular literature within a commercial setting, and the
Campos brothers are translating much more erudite non-commercial
literature, Vieira believes that both Lobato and the Campos brothers
use the original text in an anthropophagic way, adapting the original
and putting their own characteristic Brazilian mark on it.
Conclusion
In Translation in a Postcolonial Context and “ Translation and

Political Engagement”, Maria Tymoczko, based on her experience
of studying translations and adaptations of the Old Irish legends of
Cú Chulainn, describes different ways in which translation can be
used for political ends. She emphasizes the way in which these
legends were manipulated by Standish O’Grady and Lady Gregory,
who cut scatological material and made Cú Chulainn conform more
to Victorian ideal of the medieval knight. These versions, which
popularized traditional Irish myths, provided a sense of a national
culture and history at the time of the independence movement,
existed alongside more scholarly versions, which emphasized the
academic importance of Cú Chulainn legend.
Similar manipulations can be seen in Lobato’s adaptations of
Peter Pan, Don Quijote and in his retellings of traditional tales in
226 John Milton
Fábulas and Histórias de Tia Nastásia where he inserts his own

opinions on education, writing for children, and the economic and
political ills of Brazil. Another important point, mentioned by
Tymoczko, is that certain texts are chosen with political goals in
view (Tymoczko 2000: 41-42). Both Don Quijote and Peter Pan
can be seen as anarchic figures, who rebel against what is expected
of them in society. And the comments of the ideal teacher and edu-
cator, Dona Benta, leave us in no doubt as to Lobato‘s severe cri-
tique of the clergy, the traditional landowning classes in Brazil and
political corruption.
References
ABRAMOVICH, Fanny (1982). “Lobato de Todos Nós”. In Paulo Dantas (ed.)

Vozes do Tempo de Lobato. São Paulo: Traço, pp. 145-157.
BRASIL, (Pe.) Sales (1957). A Literatura Infantil de Monteiro Lobato ou

Comunismo para Crianças. Bahia: Aguiar & Souza.
CARNEIRO, Maria Luiza Tucci (1997). Livros Proibidos, Idéias Malditas: O

Deops e as Minorias Silenciadas. São Paulo: Estação Liberdade.
CARVALHEIRO, Edgard (1982). “Lobato entre a Cruz e a espada: Defesa do

seu Amigo e Biográfo”. In Paulo Dantas (ed.) Vozes do Tempo de Lobato. São
Paulo: Traço, pp. 207-213.
KOSHIYAMA, Alice Mitika (1982). Monteiro Lobato: Intelectual, Empresário,

Editor. São Paulo: Queiroz.
LANDERS, Vasda Bonafini (1982). De Jeca a Macunaíma: Monteiro Lobato e o

Modernismo. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira.
MONTEIRO LOBATO, José Bento (1951). “Inglaterra e Brasil” em Prefácios e

Entrevistas. São Paulo: Brasiliense.
______ (1954). Aventuras de Hans Staden. São Paulo: Brasilense, (9a edição).
______ (1957). D. Quixote das Crianças. São Paulo: Brasiliense.
______ (1962). Aritmética da Emília. São Paulo: Brasilense, (12a edição).
______ (1964). Mundo da Lua e Miscelânea. São Paulo: Brasilense.
______ (1966). Serões de Dona Benta (Física e Astronomia), São Paulo: Brasilense,
(9a edição).
______ (1968). Histórias de Tia Nastasia. São Paulo: Brasilense, (13a edição).
______ (1969). Fábulas. São Paulo: Brasilense, (21a edição).
______ (1971). Peter Pan. São Paulo: Brasiliense.
TYMOZCKO, Maria (2000). “Translation and Political Engagement: Activism,

Social Change and the Role of Translation in Geopolitical Shifts”. The Translator,
Volume 6, Number 1, pp. 23-47.
______ (1999). Translation in a Postcolonial Context. Manchester: St. Jerome.
VIEIRA, Adriana Silene (2001). “Monteiro Lobato Translator”. Emerging Views

on Translation History in Brazil, CROP (journal of the English Language and
English and North-American Literature Courses), FFLCH, n. 6. São Paulo: USP,
pp. 143-169.
Panorame du marché éditorial... 229
PANORAMA DU MARCHÉ ÉDITORIAL FRANÇAIS :

LES TRADUCTIONS, RETRADUCTIONS, RÉÉDITIONS
ET ADAPTATIONS FRANÇAISES DE LA
LITTÉRATURE BRÉSILIENNE
Marie-Hélène Catherine Torres

marie@cce.ufsc.br
Résumé
Nous analysons dans cet article ce que nous appelons l’environnement,
cést-à-dire la sélection et/ou initiative de la traduction, les éditeurs et autres
intermédiaires du livre, les traducteurs et les contraintes de traduction.
Conciente des diverses manipulations non seulement dans la sélection des
livres traduits et dans la façon dont ils sont traduits, mais encore dans le
choix de réédition ou de retraduction de certains textes, nous proposons
dábord une étude des biens culturels brésiliens sur le marché français afin
dávoir un panorama aussi complet que possible des traductions littéraires
au cours du Xxe siècle, puis nous analyserons les deux traductions françaises
du roman brésilien O Guarani de José de Alencar, où nous montrons le
degré déthnocentricité des traductions et la dichotomie traduction/adaptation.
Mots-Clés: Littérature Traduite, Traduction et Adaptation, Retraduction.
L’environnement de la traduction concerne la corrélation entre

la traduction et son milieu, soit l’ensemble des facteurs
interdépendants existant avant et au moment de la production d’une
traduction 1 . Chacun de ces facteurs (sélection/initiative de la
traduction, des éditeurs et autres intermédiaires du livre, des
traducteurs et des contraintes de traduction) a, selon nous, un rôle
précis qui produira un certain impact sur la traduction2 . Consciente
des diverses manipulations non seulement dans la sélection des livres
230 Marie-Hélène Catherine Torres
traduits et dans la façon dont ils sont traduits, mais encore dans le
choix de réédition ou de retraduction de certains textes, nous
proposons dans cet article une étude des biens culturels brésiliens
sur le marché français afin dávoir un panorama aussi complet que
possible des traductions littéraires au cours du XXe siècle. Puis nous
analyserons les deux traductions françaises du roman O Guarani3 de
José de Alencar – celle de 1902 de L. Xavier de Ricard et celle de
1947 de Vasco de Lacerda – où nous montrons le degré déthnocentricité
des traductions et la dichotomie traduction/adaptation.
Traductions, retraductions et rééditions : panorama
Les rééditions d’œuvres littéraires concernent des traductions

déjà publiées qui sont rééditées soit par la même maison d’édition,
soit par une maison d’édition différente, nous explique Pym dans
sa Method in History Translation4 . Pym affirme que la réédition
tendrait à renforcer la validité des traductions précédentes tandis
que la retraduction mettrait en cause cette validité :
«When there are disagreements over translations strategies,

there are likely to be several translations of the same text,
especially when the text is complex enough to admit widely
divergent versions».5
Les rééditions, selon Pym, correspondent à une certaine

demande du public envers un certain type de traduction6 . C’est
aussi, affirme Heloisa Barbosa7 , un moyen rapide et bon marché
pour les maisons d’éditions qui désirent publier des traductions.
Barbosa montre d’ailleurs, dans une étude de la fréquence des
rééditions d’œuvres brésiliennes traduites en anglais (Angleterre
et USA) que le volume des œuvres traduites inclut un nombre
important de rééditions 8 . Ces rééditions en langue anglaise
équivalent en nombre à celui des premières traductions dans les
années 50 (neuf rééditions et neuf nouvelles traductions). Et Barbosa

remarque que lorsque le volume des premières traductions
augmente, celui des rééditions augmente également :
Vingt-six 1ères traductions anglaises / Quatorze

rééditions [1960/69]
Trente-huit 1ères traductions anglaises / Quatorze
Cinquante-six 1ères traductions anglaises / Quarente-trois
Barbosa attribue l’accroissement du volume des rééditions d’œuvres

brésiliennes en langue anglaise principalement à l’effet du «boom»
de la littérature hispano-américaine à partir des années 60. Les œuvres
brésiliennes traduites en français sont beaucoup moins rééditées que
les œuvres brésiliennes traduites en anglais. Le graphique ci-dessous,
établi selon la méthode de Pym, nous le montre :
L’avantage de cette représentation par courbe est celui de pouvoir

souligner, d’un point de vue diachronique, la fréquence des rééditions
par rapport à lénsemble du volume de titres traduits, ce qui permet
d’apprécier la demande du public à un moment donné. Nous
remarquons tout d’abord, qu’à l’inverse des rééditions en anglais,
les rééditions d’œuvres brésiliennes en français n’ont pas subi
l’influence du «boom» dans les années allant de 1960 à 1979, puisqu’il

n’y a eu que trois rééditions de traduction, dont deux de Machado
de Assis, dans la période qui précéda le «boom» et aucune réédition
pendant celle du «boom».
Seules les deux dernières décennies du XXème siècle voient le
volume des rééditions en français augmenté, loin derrière l’important
volume d’œuvres brésiliennes rééditées en anglais. Parmi les
quatorze rééditions en français d’œuvres brésiliennes, en 1980/89,
huit sont de Jorge Amado et deux de Machado de Assis et au cours
de la période 1990/99, dix sont des rééditions d’Amado, deux de
Machado de Assis et deux de João Guimarães Rosa.
Enfin, la sélection des textes réédités porte principalement sur
les textes de Jorge Amado – la moitié des rééditions – et sur ceux
de Machado de Assis, tout comme la sélection des rééditions en
anglais, ainsi que le constate Barbosa9 . Est réédité également deux
fois le roman de João Guimarães Rosa, Diadorim, et celui de
Mário de Andrade Macounaïma, deux écrivains canonisés au Brésil
et dont les romans cités sont des romans de formation de la langue,
de la culture et de la littérature brésiliennes. Précisons que de
nombreuses œuvres rééditées – mais pas uniquement, car d’autres
romans réédités n’ont pas été retraduits – ont aussi bénéficié de
nouvelle traduction (retraduction).
Le nombre des retraductions d’œuvres brésiliennes en
français est bien plus conséquent qu’en langue anglaise car
Barbosa affirme que :
«only five Brazilian literary works have been re-translated

into English in 494 years».10
Ce sont Machado de Assis et Jorge Amado qui sont les plus retraduits
en français, avec trois œuvres retraduites chacun – alors qu’en
anglais, de ces deux écrivains, seul Machado de Assis est retraduit.
D’ailleurs, nous ne pouvons pas dire qu’il y a une systématisation
dans l’ordre chronologique des retraductions en français et en
anglais car des deux retraductions communes dans ces deux langues/
cultures, Iracema sera d’abord retraduit en anglais (1920) et Dom
Casmurro d’abord retraduit en français (1983). Les romans
d’Amado, Machado de Assis, Euclides da Cunha, Lispector et
Guimarães Rosa, retraduits en français, sont réédités – de Machado
de Assis, ce sont les premières traductions qui sont rééditées, en
revanche, les romans indianistes de José de Alencar et les romans
historiques de Veríssimo seront retraduits mais ne seront pas
réédités.
La question de la retraduction est tout à fait essentielle, selon
Berman, car il faut, selon lui, distinguer ces «deux espaces (et deux
temps) de traduction: celui des premières traductions, et celui des
retraductions.»11 Toujours selon Berman, «toute traduction est
appelée à vieillir, et c’est le destin de toutes les traductions des
«classiques» de la littérature universelle que d’être tôt ou tard
retraduites.»12 Pour lui, la retraduction au XXème siècle a un sens
historique et culturel spécifique, soit «celui de nous rouvrir l’accès
à des œuvres dont la puissance d’ébranlement et d’interpellation
avait fini par être menacée»13 par des traductions ne correspondant
plus à notre phase. D’un autre côté, Paul Bensimon, dans la
présentation du numéro spécial de la Revue Palimpsestes14 pose
les premières traductions comme introduction par rapport aux
retraductions. Selon lui, «les premières traductions visent
généralement à acclimater l’œuvre étrangère en la soumettant à
des impératifs socioculturels qui privilégient le destinataire de
l’œuvre traduite». Autrement dit, les premières traductions, selon
lui, procèdent souvent à la naturalisation de l’œuvre étrangère. Il
ajoute que puisque la première traduction a déjà introduit l’œuvre
étrangère, «le retraducteur ne cherche plus à atténuer la distance
entre les deux cultures» et accepte beaucoup le «dépaysement
culturel». Nous verrons avec lánalyse de O Guarany de José de
Alencar que traducteur et retraducteur français nónt pas opté pour
le dépaysement culturel qui favoriserait le genius loci mais plutôt
pour une naturalisation de lóeuvre.
La fonction de la retraduction, qu’elle soit de rouvrir l’accès à

des œuvres majeures (Berman) ou qu’elle poursuive la voie ouverte
par des «traductions-introductions» (premières traductions,
Bensimon), répond à une demande spécifique de la culture
traduisante, à un moment donné de son histoire. Le statut de ces
retraductions provient du fait que les textes et les auteurs brésiliens
sont eux-mêmes canonisés dans le système culturel d’origine. Et
en représentant distinctement les premières traductions, les
retraductions et les rééditions d’œuvres brésiliennes en français
sur un même graphique, nous obtenons un profil plus précis de la
distribution et de la fréquence de la littérature brésiliennes traduites
en français sur le plan diachronique15 :
Les retraductions, qui représentent un tiers du volume des

rééditions, sont très ponctuelles jusque dans les années 80, puisque
dans les années 40 ne furent retraduites que deux œuvres Le Guarany
d’Alencar (1947) et Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe de Bras Cubas (1944)
de Machado de Assis. Un seul roman fut traduit dans les années
70, Gabriela de Jorge Amado (1971). Ces mêmes écrivains verront

d’autres de leurs romans retraduits dans les années 80, soit un
d’Alencar (Iracéma, 1985), un de Machado de Assis (Dom
Casmurro, 1983) et deux de Jorge Amado (Les terres du bout du
monde, 1985, et Terre aux fruits d’or, 1986). De plus, le seul roman
de Lispector retraduit (son premier roman) est Près du cœur
sauvage (1982). Les années 90 présentent quatre retraductions :
Quincas Borba (1990) de Machado de Assis, Diadorim (1991) de
João Guimarães Rosa, Hautes Terres (1993) d’Euclides da Cunha
et Le temps et le vent (1996) de Veríssimo. Enfin, nous constatons,
en passant, que certains écrivains brésiliens sont traduits, retraduits
et réédités, tels Amado, Assis ou encore Alencar, souvent par les
mêmes maisons d’éditions.
Traduction et retraduction françaises de O Guarani : non-

traduction et adaptation
O Guarani, le premier roman de José de Alencar (JdA), fit

couler beaucoup d’encre, tout comme ses autres romans et,
notamment, Iracema. De nombreux de critiques littéraires lui
reprochèrent de trahir la langue portugaise (celle du Portugal) au
profit d’une langue bâtarde, la langue brésilienne. On láccusa
d’innovation et de francisation de la langue portugaise, devenue à
cet effet, langue brésilienne. Les critiques portugais rejetaient son
style, faible et relâché, à cause du manque de conjonctions et
particules qui lient généralement les phrases entre elles dans un
style classique. Pour JdA, le style classique était en décadence en
1870 et il choisit pour cela un style nouveau pour l’époque, avec de
nombreux paragraphes d’une seule phrase. Un point que nous
explorerons notamment dans l’analyse textuelle.
Examinant les titres de chapitres de la traduction de 1902 et de la
retraduction de 1947, l’on remarque qu’à partir du chapitre XII, soit le
dernier chapitre de la dernière partie, la retraduction de 1947 le
démembre. En effet, que ce soit dans la traduction de 1902 ou dans

l’original brésilien, ce dernier chapitre est intitulé «Epilogue» (Epílogo).
En revanche, dans la retraduction de 1947, ce chapitre est subdivisé en
cinq chapitres pour lesquels le traducteur invente des titres :
· Sur le Paquequer (chap. XI)

· Salve, Regina (chap.XII)
· Le repas (chap.XIII)
· La fille du désert (chap. XIV)
· La tempête (chap. XV)
C’est le seul moment où le traducteur, Vasco de Lacerda (VdL),

démembre un chapitre. Ce qui ne signifie pas qu’il n’ait pas modifié
le texte dans le reste du roman comme nous le verrons. Ce chapitre
final, dans l’original brésilien, est découpé en paragraphes très
courts, souvent d’une seule phrase. C’est aussi le cas dans la
traduction de 1902, mais certes pas dans la retraduction de 1947
(VdL). Les cinq premiers paragraphes de l’épilogue, d’une seule
phrase chacun, sont réunis en un unique paragraphe chez VdL
Quand le soleil se leva à l’horizon, les décombres jonchaient

sur les bords de la rivière. De grands quartiers de roche,
épars dans la plaine, avaient été arrachés à la montagne,
comme par le marteaux de nouveaux Cyclopes. L’éminence
où s’élevait la maison avait disparu; on ne voyait plus à sa
place qu’une large crevasse, pareille au cratère d’un volcan.
Les arbres déracinés par l’explosion, le sol ravagé, la cendre
noirâtre qui couvrait la forêt, semblaient marquer le passage
d’un de ces grands cataclysmes, qui ne laissent après eux que
la mort et la destruction. De-ci de-là, parmi les monceaux de
ruines, on voyait errer quelques Indiennes, seules survivantes
de la tribu, demeurées sur le lieu du désastre, pour pleurer
leurs morts.
D’ailleurs VdL procède ainsi dans tout le texte, réunissant des

paragraphes, souvent d’une phrase, en un seul. Hormis cet
agencement au niveau macrostructurel, VdL pratique la stratégie
de la non-traduction comme nous pouvons le voir au tout début du
chapitre qu’il intitule «La fille du désert» et qui correspond en fait à
un passage de l’Epilogue:
(en gras le passage non-traduit par VdL)
Trad. 1902 (p. 374-5) Trad.-adapt. 1947 (p. 353) O Guarani (p. 286-7)
Après le repas, Pery Après le repas, Peri se Depois da refeição,

retourna à son remit à l’ouvrage. Peri voltou ao seu
travail. Laissant son compagnon trabalho.
Cecilia qui, dès le absorbé dans son Cecília, que desde o
premier jour, travail, Cecilia primeiro dia sentia-
s’était sentie abattue s’approcha de la se abatida e
et languissante, rivière, et s’assit près lânguida, tinha
avait recouvré un d’un buisson d’ «uvaias» recobrado um pouco
peu de sa vivacité et auquel était amarré le de sua vivacidade e
de sa gentillesse des canot. gentileza dos bons
bons jours. dias.
Son gracieux visage O rosto mimoso
conservait encore conservava ainda a
l’ombre sombra melancólica
mélancolique qu’y que lhe deixaram
avait laissée impressas as cenas
l’impressions des tristes de que for a
tristes scènes dont testemunha, e
elle avait été sobretudo a última
témoin, et surtout desgraça que a tinha
du dernier désastre, privado de seu pai e
qui l’avait privée de de sua mãe.
son père et de sa Mas essa mágoa
mère. tomava nas suas
Mais ce chagrin feições uma
donnait encore un expressão angélica, e
nouveau charme à tal mansuetude e

sa beauté, tant il suavi-dade, que dava
était imprégné de novo encanto à sua
douceur et de beleza ideal.
mansuétude. Deixando seu compa-
Laissant son nheiro distraído com
compagnon à sa a sua obra, chegou à
besogne, elle se beira do rio e sentou-
dirigea au bord du se junto de uma moita
fleuve et s’assit près de uvaias, à qual
d’une touffe d’ estava amarrada a
«uvaias», à laquelle canoa.
le canot était
amarré.
Cette longue description psychologique de Cecilia est supprimée

par VdL. Cette stratégie est le propre de l’adaptation, qui n’est
d’ailleurs pas occultée par le traducteur puisqu’il l’annonce dès la
page de titre. En effet, la retraduction de Vasco de Lacerda (1947)
comporte une couverture réduite à son minimum puisque n’y figure
que le titre O Guarany. Ce titre est un titre non-traduit, soit le titre
original brésilien, donc en langue étrangère, dénotant “le caractère
importé de l’œuvre”16 , orthographié avec un «y». La dernière
réforme de l’orthographe (avant la traduction de Vasco de Lacerda)
ayant été unanimement approuvée par l’Académie Brésilienne de
Lettres en 1943 – supprimant notamment K, W et Y de la langue
portugaise17 – l’on peut avancer l’hypothèse que le traducteur s’est
servi d’une édition brésilienne antérieure. Jusque dans les années
30, le titre du roman était: O Guarany: romance brasileiro, soit Le
Guarani: roman brésilien. Ce sous-titre générique18 (selon le terme
de Genette) disparaîtra dans les années 40, ce qui explique qu’il
n’accompagne pas celui de Vasco de Lacerda (VdL) en 1947. Ce
n’est que sur la 3ème de couverture que l’on apprend que c’est un
roman de José de Alencar, publié à La Sixaine (sans date) et qu’il
est: traduit et adapté du portugais par VASCO DE LACERDA. Cette
dernière indication révèle que le texte est une traduction dont on ne

connaît que l’origine linguistique du roman. Mais le plus surprenant
ici est l’expression «traduit et adapté», deux termes a priori
antinomiques. Selon Georges L. Bastin, l’adaptation peut être
qualifiée d’imitation, de réécriture, et, en somme,
«Adaptation may be understand as a set of translative operations

which result in a text that is not accepted as a translation but
is nevertheless recognized as representing a source text of
about the same length».19
L’adaptation n’est donc pas acceptée comme étant une traduction,

ou encore comme le précise Bastin, «the concept of adaptation
requires recognition of translation as non-adaptation». La traduction
est une non-adaptation mais l’adaptation comporte des opérations
traductives liées à un texte-source. Et c’est ce dernier point
d’intersection entre traduction et adaptation qui, finalement, permet
de rapprocher, selon nous, les deux termes. Notre analyse textuelle
se penchera, par conséquent, sur le degré d’adaptation, soit sur le
degré d’anthropophagie traductionnelle du traducteur, nous gardant
d’entrer dans le débat de l’infidélité ou dans celui qui prônerait que
tout compte fait, tout est adaptation – naturalisation, exotisation,
transcréation (Haroldo de Campos).
L’adaptation suggère arrangement et modification, le plus
souvent lorsqu’il s’agit de glisser d’un genre à un autre (roman et
théâtre; cinéma; roman et littérature pour enfant). Le fait de trouver
traduction et adaptation ensemble soulève donc l’hypothèse d’une
traduction assez «libre», les deux notions étant liées à un texte-
source. Comme le dit Berman,
«l’adaptation revêt en général des formes plus discrètes, des

formes syncrétiques, dans la mesure où le traducteur tantôt
traduit «littéralement», tantôt traduit «librement», tantôt
pastiche, tantôt adapte»20 .
C’est ce que fait VdL car la non-traduction, que ce soit de description

ou d’état sentimental, pratiquée tout au long de son texte ne concerne
pas seulement des phrases entières mais également des parties de
phrases :
Trad. 1902 (p. 2) Trad.-adapt. 1947 (p. 9) O Guarani (p. 15)
On aurait dit que, Il semble que, vassale Dir-se-ia que, vassalo

vassal et tributaire de et tributaire de ce roi e tributário desse rei
ce roi des eaux, le des eaux, la petite das águas, o pequeno
petit rio jusque-là rivière, si dédaigneuse rio, altivo e sobran-
hautain et orgueilleux envers les rochers de ceiro contra os
contre les rochers, se la montagne, se rochedos, curva-se
courbe humblement prosterne à présent aux humildemente aos pés
aux pieds de son pieds de son suzerain. do suserano. Perde
suzerain. Il perd alors Elle perd alors sa então a beleza selvática;
sa beauté sauvage; ses beauté sylvestre, ses suas ondas são calmas
ondes sont calmes et eaux se font calmes et e serenas como as de
sereines comme celles sereines tels canots qui um lago, e não se
d’un lac; elles sont lentement glissent à revoltam contra os
sans révolte contre leur surface: esclave barcos e as canoas que
les barques et les soumise, elle subit le resvalam sobre elas;
canots qui glissent sur joug du seigneur. escravo submisso,
elles: l’esclave soumis sofre o látego do
souffre le fouet du senhor.
maître.
VdL ne traduit ni la comparaison ni la redondance (barques). La

traduction-adaptation présente non seulement des non-traductions
mais encore le traducteur forme un seul paragraphe de ce qui était
à l’origine deux paragraphes – dans la traduction de 1902 et dans
l’original brésilien.
Toutefois, la non-traduction semble être aussi une stratégie de
traduction opérée par le traducteur de 1902, Xavier de Ricard
(XdR). Le roman d’Alencar innovait, notamment par l’usage de
vocables et expressions indigènes, accompagnés de cinquante-huit

notes de bas de page pour expliquer les termes indigènes aux lecteurs
brésiliens de l’époque qui n’étaient pas du tout familiarisés avec le
Tupi21 . Des cinquante-huit notes d’Alencar, le traducteur de1902,
XdR, n’en a conservé que deux, et en a ajouté onze. Cependant,
XdR ne dit à aucun moment que José de Alencar avait accompagné
son texte de notes de bas de page, ni que de lui-même (XdR), il n’a
conservé que deux notes et ajouté onze autres. De même pour les
neuf notes de bas de page de la traduction-adaptation de 1947 :
VdL introduit huit notes (dont quatre N.D.T.) et garde une note
d’Alencar en l’abrégeant (p.114). Ne pas traduire les notes signifie
annexer le texte traduit à sa propre culture, ne pas donner
d’explication sur des mots indigènes. Ce sont des traductions
ethnocentriques, selon l’expression de Berman. PuisquÁlencar
avait jugé indispensable de donner des précisions sur des termes
indigènes et toponymiques qu’il introduit dans la langue, donc
inconnus des lecteurs brésiliens de l’époque, et sur ses sources
bibliographiques, les lecteurs français que ce soit du début du XXème
ou de la fin du XXème siècle, ignorant également tout de ce
vocabulaire relevant de la culture brésilienne, comment les
traducteurs ont-ils pu se passer de traduire ces notes auxquelles le
texte renvoie sans cesse ? Certes, la fonction de ces notes pour le
lecteur français serait informative. Cette non-traduction de la part
des deux traducteurs révèle pour le moins l’idée de non-information,
dans le sens d’attitude colonialiste, soit ce qui est différent du Même
ne peut être assimilé.
Examinons par exemple la première note de bas de page d’Alencar
concernant le terme indigène Guarani qui ne renvoie pas au texte à
proprement parlé mais au titre du roman:
«Guarani – O título que damos a esse romance significa o

indígena brasileiro. Na ocasião da descoberta, o Brasil era
povoado por nações pertencentes a uma grande raça, que
conquistara o país havia muito tempo, e expulsara os
dominadores. Os cronistas ordinariamente designavam esta

raça pelo nome Tupi; mas esta denominação não era usada
senão por algumas nações. Entendemos que a melhor
designação que se lhe podia dar era a da língua geral que
falavam e naturalmente lembrava o nome primitivo da grande
nação. (N.A.)»22
Les deux traducteurs ayant utilisé le vocable indigène Guarani/y

dans leur titre, cette note aurait apporté quelque lumière à ce propos,
même si XdR (1902) annonce dans son introduction :
«J’aurais craint que ce mot Guarani ne dit pas grand’chose

aux lecteurs; ils ne sont pas familiarisés avec les indiens de
l’Amérique du Sud».
A cette prise de conscience lucide du traducteur ne correspondent

pas les lacunes engendrées par la non-traduction des notes de José
de Alencar. D’ailleurs, quelques-uns de ces passages dont la note
n’est pas traduite nous montre les stratégies des traducteurs (que
nous soulignons dans le texte.
Trad. 1902 (p. 23) Trad.-adapt. 1947 (p. 28) O Guarani (p. 31-2)
Quand l’animal, Quand la bête, quasi Quando o animal,

presque asphyxié par asphyxiée par quase asfixiado pela
l’étranglement, ne fit strangulation, n’offrit estrangulação, já não
plus qu’une faible plus qu’une faible fazia senão uma fraca
résistance, le sauvage, résistance, le sauvage resistência, o selvagem,
affermissant la maintenant toujours la segurando sempre a
fourche, mit la main fourche, retira de sa forquilha, meteu a
sous sa tunique et en tunique une corde mão debaixo da tunica
tira une corde de ticum solide, enroulée e tirou uma corda de
qu’il avait enroulée, à plusieurs fois autour de ticum 1 que tinha
plusieurs tours, autour sa taille. enrolada à cintura em
de sa taille. muitas voltas.
(1) Ticum: O ticum é uma

palmeira de cujos
filamentos os índios
usavam como os
europeus do linho. Dela
se serviam para suas
redes de pesca, para
cordas de arco e outros
misteres; o fio preparado
por eles com a resina de
almécega era fortís-
simo.(N.A.)
Dans ce passage, les traducteurs ont une stratégie différente à

l’égard de la note d’Alencar qui précise que le «ticum» provient
d’un palmier et que c’était une corde très solide (les indiens s’en
servaient même pour pêcher). XdR conserve le mot Tupi en italique
sans autre explication, ce qui exotise son texte, tandis que VdL
opère une traduction explicative «corde solide». Sa stratégie est
celle de l’annexion dont Berman stipule que
«pour qu’il y ait annexion, il faut que le sens de l’œuvre

étrangère se soumette à la langue dite d’arrivée»23 .
C’est, selon Berman, l’essence même de la traduction

ethnocentrique où
«il s’agit d’introduire le sens étranger de telle manière qu’il

soit acclimaté, que l’œuvre étrangère apparaisse comme un
«fruit» de la langue propre»24 .
C’est de cette façon que procède X. de Ricard en introduisant «ticum»

dans son texte, en l’acclimatant, sans note, en italique. Il neutralise,
par ce fait, l’exotisation produite par l’introduction du mot indigène
dans son texte. VdL annexe franchement le terme en le naturalisant

«corde solide». L’un des principes, nous dit Berman, de la traduction
ethnocentrique est qu’ «on doit traduire l’œuvre étrangère de façon
que l’on ne sente pas la traduction»25 . Cela signifie, toujours selon
Berman, que «toute trace de la langue d’origine doit avoir disparu,
ou être soigneusement délimitée» 26 . La stratégie de traduction
ethnocentrique se poursuit dans tout le roman, comme nous le
constatons dans le passage ci-après :
Loredano apenas viu
Loredano, quand desaparecer a sombra,
A peine Loredano vit- l’ombre eut disparu et e ouviu os ecos dos
il disparaître l’ombre, que les pas du jeune passos do moço, que se
et entendit l’écho des homme se furent r e p e r c u t i a m
pas du jeune homme, éloignés, sourit. Sa surdamente no fundo
qui se répercutaient prunelle fauve brilla do precipício, sorriu.
sourdement au fond dans les ténèbres Sua pupila fulva brilhou
du précipice, qu’il comme celle d’un chat na treva, como os
sourit. Sa prunelle sauvage. olhos da irara1.
fauve brilla dans les
ténèbres comme (1) Irara: Espécie de
celles de l’hirara gato selvagem, indígena
(chat sauvage). do Brasil. (N.A.)
Ce qu’Alencar explicite en note est utilisé par VdL («gato

selvagem» = «chat sauvage»). Il évite ainsi d’importer le mot Tupi,
à l’inverse de XdR, lequel non seulement utilise «hirara»
orthographié différemment dans son texte mais encore donne une
traduction explicative entre parenthèses. L’on remarque aussi que
le traducteur de 1947 amoindrit la cruauté du personnage de
Loredano en ne traduisant pas le passage où il entend tomber Peri
dans le précipice.
De plus, la non-traduction des notes touche aussi l’argument
historique explicité dans celles-ci par Alencar. Par exemple, les
notes 5, 9 et 10 nous apprennent que D. Antonio de Mariz, son
épouse D. Lauriana et leur fils D. Diogo sont tous des personnages

historiques qui vécurent au Brésil de la fin du XVIème au début du
XVIIème siècle. Alencar a continué à faire vivre fictionnellement
des personnages qui ont existé dans la vie réelle. En ne traduisant
pas ces éléments de l’argument historique, les traducteurs montrent
leur désintérêt pour l’histoire du Brésil, seule la fiction est soulignée.
Cette non-traduction des notes atteint également l’explication de la
signification des prénoms des personnages protagonistes, Ceci (fille
de D. Antonio et de D. Lauriana) et Peri (l’Indien). Dans les notes
17 et 21, Alencar précise que les deux prénoms, en Guarani signifie
jonc sylvestre pour Peri et blesser pour Ceci. L’un symbolise donc
la Nature et l’autre la transformation de celle-ci. Le lecteur des
traductions françaises est donc priver de ces informations. Le nom
du personnage de D. Diogo de Mariz – frère de Cécilia – devient
D. Diego chez XdR (1902) alors que VdL le traduit par «Don
Diègue», réminiscence racinienne, donc naturalisante. Les autres
personnages conservent leur noms brésiliens, avec parfois une
orthographe française (Isabelle, D. Laureana).
Un autre trait de la traduction naturalisante apparaît clairement
dans les dialogues des personnages, si chers à Alencar qui voulait
parvenir au profil de l’homme essentiellement brésilien. Pour les
dialogues formels entre les personnages portugais – D. Lauriana,
D. Diego, Isabelle ou encore D. Antonio – les traducteurs ont
maintenu le formalisme langagier, propre à l’époque, comme par
exemple dans le dialogue entre D. Antonio et son fils D. Diogo ,
après que ce dernier ait tué une indienne:
Voyant approcher son Voyant approcher son Vendo aproximar-se

père, Don Diego de père, Don Diègue de seu pai, D. Diogo de
Mariz se leva, et, Mariz se leva, et, se Mariz ergueu-se e
s’étant découvert, découvrant, l’attendit descobrindo-se
attendit dans une dans une attitude esperou-o numa
attitude respectueuse; respectueuse; atitude respeitosa.
– Senhor Cavalier, dit – Senhor cavalheiro, – Sr cavalheiro, disse

le vieillard d’un air dit le vieillard d’un air o velho com ar severo,
sévère, vous avez sévère, vous avez infringistes ontem as
enfreint hier les ordres enfreint hier les ordres ordens que vos dei.
que je vous donnai… que je vous ai donnés. – Senhor…
– Senhor!… – Senhor… – Apesar das minhas
– Malgré mes – En dépit de mes recomendações
recommandations recommandations expressas, ofendestes
expresses, vous avez expresses, vous avez um desses selvagens e
offensé un de ces offensé un de ces excitastes contra nós a
sauvages et provoqué sauvages, et excité sua vingança. Pusestes
contre nous leur contre nous sa em risco a vida de
vengeance. Vous avez vengeance. Vous avez vosso pai, de vossa mãe
mis en danger la vie mis en danger la vie de e de homens dedicados.
de votre père, de votre votre père, de votre Deveis estar satisfeito
mère et d’hommes qui mère et celles de vossa obra.
nous sont dévoués. d’hommes dévoués.
Vous devez être Vous devez être
satisfait de votre satisfait de votre
œuvre. œuvre!
Nous remarquons le traitement extrêmement formel de «Senhor

cavalheiro», signifiant «Monsieur le Chevalier» et non «Cavalier»
comme le traduit XdR. Cet usage est d’autant plus formel pour les
brésiliens contemporains que l’usage de la deuxième personne du
pluriel (vós) est également supplanté par celui de la troisième personne
du singulier (você). Les traducteurs utilisent le vouvoiement qui n’a
pas la portée formelle du vós au Brésil. La stratégie de naturalisation
de XdR est neutralisée par la traduction «cavalier, tandis qu’au
contraire, VdL exotise son texte en conservant «Senhor cavalheiro».
La naturalisation de la traduction intervient lorsque Peri, le héros
indigène, prend la parole comme nous l’observons dans son
monologue tenu à D. Antonio de Mariz lors de leur première
rencontre alors que Peri venait de sauver sa fille Cecilia:
Quand Pery abaissa Quand Pery abaissa “Quando Peri abaixou

l’arc d’Araré il n’y l’arc d’Araré, il ne o arco de Ararê, não
avait plus dans la restait plus, dans le havia na taba dos
“taba” (village des village des blancs, une brancos uma cabana
blancs) ni une cabane seule cabane debout, em pé, um homem
debout, ni un homme un seul homme vivant; vivo; tudo era cinza.
vivant: tout était tout n’était que cendres
cendre!
Si l’auteur brésilien utilise l’apposition pour introduire «taba «

dans son texte, le traducteur de 1902 exotise son texte en conservant
«taba» et en annotant entre parenthèses, comme il le fait à d’autres
reprises, la signification. Quant au traducteur de 1947, il supprime
la référence indigène, ce qui a pour effet de naturaliser son texte.
Notons que les traducteurs-mêmes ont suivi le modèle brésilien en
employant la troisième personne du singulier, car Peri parle de lui
à la troisième personne. Dans le reste du monologue de Peri, l’excès
de formalisme surprend quelque peu car juste après le monologue,
le narrateur qualifie explicitement la manière de parler de Peri:
«D. Antônio o ouvia sorrindo-se do estilo ora figurado, ora tão singelo
como as primeiras frases que balbucia a criança no seio materno.»27
Le narrateur se réfère ici à la naissance d’une nouvelle langue, une
langue en formation, la langue brésilienne.
En fait, ces non-traductions montrent que le degré
d’anthropophagie des traducteurs concernent particulièrement tout
ce qui a trait à la spécificité brésilienne: histoire, langue, faune,
flore. Et d’une certaine manière, les « traducteurs » tendent à
neutraliser l’essence brésilienne – ce qui semblerait trop brésilien
– en réduisant l’étrangeté dans leur texte français. Cette non-
reconnaissance de la spécificité brésilienne donne lieu à des
traductions naturalisantes. Dans ce sens, traducteur et retraducteur
optent pour un français très formel (passé simple) , classique, ce
qui naturalise les textes puisqu’ils vont dans le sens de la bienséance
française, surtout au début du XXème siècle qui se voulait classique.

Cette stratégie permet à un lecteur français de ne pas «sentir « la
traduction, selon les termes de Berman. Et pour ce faire, nous dit
Berman, «il faut recourir à des procédés littéraires»28 . Il ajoute
qu’ «une œuvre qui, en français, ne sent pas la traduction, c’est
une œuvre écrite en «bon français», c’est-à-dire un français
classique». Ni le premier traducteur ni le retraducteur n’ont eu
líntention de créer une nouvelle langue, de la transgresser, bien
au contraire, ils ont généralement eu tendance à alterner les
stratégies de traduction, soit la non-traduction, ládaptation, la
traduction «littérale», afin de ne pas subvertir la langue française.
Notes et bibliographie
1. Nous ne parlons ici que des traductions littéraires.
2. Nous ne tenons compte que des éléments préexistants la traduction, laissant de

côté le paramètre post-traductionnel, soit la critique et la réception de la traduction
car il advient après la naissance de la traduction.
3. Bosi clame qu’il est paradoxal que O Guarani et Iracema aient fondé le roman
national – comme le disait José Veríssimo en 1916 – car ils donnent une interprétation
idéologique du processus colonial. Paradoxal, car le Brésil était indépendant (1822),
s’avançait vers la République (1889) et l’abolition de l’esclavage (1888).
4. PYM, Anthony (1998). Method in Translation History. Manchester: St Jerome,

p. 79.
5. Ibid., p. 82.
6. Ibid., p. 79.
7. BARBOSA, Heloisa (1994). The Virtual Image : Brazilian Literature in English

Translation. Thèse de Doctorat non publiée. Université de Warwick, Angleterre, p. 50.
8. Ibid., p. 49.
9. Ibid., p. 50.
10. Ibid., p. 51.
11. BERMAN, Antoine (1985). «La traduction et la lettre ou l’auberge du lointain»

IN Les tours de Babel. Mauvezin: TER, p. 116.
12. Ibid., p. 281.
13. Ibid., p. 281.
14. Revue Palimpsestes (1990). N° Spécial « Retraduire ». Paris: Pub. De la Sorbonne

Nouvelle.
15. Graphique établi selon la méthode de Pym.
16. LAMBERT, José & VAN BRAGT, Katrin (1980). “The Vicar of Wakefield”
en langue française. Traditions et ruptures dans la littérature traduite. Leuven:
Literatuurwetenschap/KUL, p. 19.
17. Dicionário Aurélio, p. IX.
18. GENETTE, Seuils, p. 56.
19. BAKER, Mona (ed) (1998). Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London:

Routledge, article Adaptation, p. 5.
20. BERMAN (1985). In les tours de Babel, p. 56.

21. Alencar était un visionnaire car aujourd’hui la langue brésilienne a incorporé un

grand nombre de termes indigènes.
22. «Guarani – Le titre que nous donnons à ce roman signifie l’indigène brésilien.
Au moment de la découverte, le Brésil était peuplé par des nations appartenant à une
grande race qui avait conquis le pays depuis bien longtemps et qui avait expulsé les
dominateurs. Les chroniqueurs désignaient ordinairement cette race par le nom de
Tupi; mais cette dénomination n’était utilisée que par quelques nations. Nous entendons
que la meilleure désignation que l’on pouvait lui donner était celle de langue générale
qu’ils parlaient et qui rappelait naturellement le nom primitif de la grande nation
(N.A.)» (Notre trad.).
23. BERMAN, Antoine IN Les tours de Babel, p. 53.
24. Ibid., p. 53.
25. Ibid., p. 53.
26. Ibid.
27. p. 97. “D. Antonio l’écoutait, souriant de son style tantôt figuré, tantôt si
simple telles les premières phrases que balbutie un enfant sur le sein maternel”
(notre trad.).
28. BERMAN, Antoine IN Les tours de Babel, p. 54.

Bibliografia sobre tradução,... 279
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Marie-Hélène C. Torres
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ISSN 1414-526X

Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Tradução- PGET

Endereço para Correspondência

(Catalogação na fonte pela Biblioteca da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina)

Cadernos de Tradução / Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de

I. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Comunicação e Expressão.

Little theoretical attention has been paid to the subject of

traductions, et celui des retraductions” [“two spaces (and two ti-

They also describe the profusion of the different versions of The

one can find the characteristics of Milton’s “Factory Translation”,

The importance of the paratext to give a very different initial

alternatives in key sections. The translator will thus avoid the

attempt to condescend to the younger reader. According to Amorim,

d’adaptation, soit sur le degré d’anthropophagie traductionnelle du

Bastin, Georges (1998). « Adaptation », in Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation

Berman, Antoine (1985). «La traduction et la lettre ou l’auberge du lointain» in Les

_____ (1990). «La retraduction comme espace de la traduction», in Palimpsestes nº 4,

Meschonnic, Henri (1999). Poétique du traduire. Paris Éditions Verdier.

THE POLITICAL ADAPTATIONS OF

This article will examine the way in which the Brazilian

much against the nationalist and protectionist policies of Brazilian

Monteiro Lobato - “A Nation is made by men and books “

Lobato is the key figure in the development of the Brazilian book

authors, thus democratizing access to the publishing industry, as

the control of the government, and Lobato’s financial losses were

Lobato’s retellings and adaptations

In a 1921 letter he mentions his plans to produce a series of

Lobato 1957:16), Emília, who, like Lobato, is against everything

extirpar a “literatura” de meus livros infantis. A cada revisão

[get rid of the “literature” in my children’s books. With each

In Peter Pan and D. Quixote das Crianças this intimate contact

Seas”] (Monteiro Lobato 1971: 75), the background to Cervantes

generation, usually by people who are illiterate. Only those who

Lobato and Politics

Lobato was no friend of the Estado Novo nationalist government

the President of the Republic, and General Gois Monteiro, and

Another report for the Tribunal de Segurança Nacional [Na-

Todo e qualquer escrito capaz de desvirtuar esse programa é

[All written matter which may pervert this programme is

Comunismo para Crianças [The Children’s Literature of Monteiro

…a humanidade tonteia diante do surto dos valores da violência

…humanity is shaken at the rapid increase of violent values

But though England may be at war, and though threatened by the

Lobato and Anthropophagy

In Lobato’s adaptations we see a very important way in which a

when the North American redskins are compared to Brazilian In-

In Translation in a Postcolonial Context and “ Translation and

Fábulas and Histórias de Tia Nastásia where he inserts his own

ABRAMOVICH, Fanny (1982). “Lobato de Todos Nós”. In Paulo Dantas (ed.)

BRASIL, (Pe.) Sales (1957). A Literatura Infantil de Monteiro Lobato ou

CARNEIRO, Maria Luiza Tucci (1997). Livros Proibidos, Idéias Malditas: O

CARVALHEIRO, Edgard (1982). “Lobato entre a Cruz e a espada: Defesa do

KOSHIYAMA, Alice Mitika (1982). Monteiro Lobato: Intelectual, Empresário,

LANDERS, Vasda Bonafini (1982). De Jeca a Macunaíma: Monteiro Lobato e o

MONTEIRO LOBATO, José Bento (1951). “Inglaterra e Brasil” em Prefácios e

______ (1957). D. Quixote das Crianças. São Paulo: Brasiliense.

______ (1962). Aritmética da Emília. São Paulo: Brasilense, (12a edição).

______ (1964). Mundo da Lua e Miscelânea. São Paulo: Brasilense.

______ (1969). Fábulas. São Paulo: Brasilense, (21a edição).

______ (1971). Peter Pan. São Paulo: Brasiliense.

TYMOZCKO, Maria (2000). “Translation and Political Engagement: Activism,

______ (1999). Translation in a Postcolonial Context. Manchester: St. Jerome.

VIEIRA, Adriana Silene (2001). “Monteiro Lobato Translator”. Emerging Views