Retranslation and reception: translations of Paradise Lost, by John Milton, as a counterpoint to the original and to the existing translations

• Grant number: 11/51890-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): March 15, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Modern Foreign Languages
• Principal Investigator: John Milton
• Grantee: Afonso Teixeira Filho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 13/06533-0 - Retranslation and reception: John Milton's Paradise Lost translations as a way of interpretation of the poem and its translations, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to analyze the translations of Paradise Lost, by John Milton, into Portuguese, by the comparative method of deforming trends postulated by Antoine Berman. We will start by the analysis of the translation of the same poem by François-René de Chateaubriand - which Berman defines as a re-translation, i.e., a translation very dose to a literal one, that breaks the rules of the target language, imposing onto it elements of the source language, working at the same time as a counterpoint to the original and to the existing translations. When a translation is made considering the needs of the reader, there is a cultural appropriation, which cancels the poetic interaction between the original and the translation, the contact between cultures-and the tension between the structures of the languages. It is undoubtedly what happens to the translation into Portuguese of Paradise Lost. Examining the contrasts between Chateaubriand's translation-and the translations into Portuguese, we intend to determine the types of deviations present in the latter, the reasons for such deviations (commercial, ideological, linguistic, aesthetic), and to what extent such deviations affect the translated text. Then, we will propose a re-translation of Paradise Lost, with the aim of promoting a reassessment and reevaluation of the work. (AU)