POR UMA ANÁLISE CRÍTICA E AFRODIASPÓRICA DA TRADUÇÃO DO ROMANCE PONCIÁ VICÊNCIO DE CONCEIÇÃO EVARISTO

Abstract

This work is a theoretical-critical analysis and reflection about the translation process of the novel Ponciá Vicêncio, by the Afro-Brazilian writer Conceição Evaristo (2003), from Brazilian Portuguese into United States English by Paloma Martinez-Cruz and published by Host Publication in 2007. For this analysis, we take into consideration translation as cultural practice traversed by the intersectional relationship between the text, the contexts (aesthetic, political-economic, social, and historical), mediated by subjectivity, social class, ethno-racial condition, gender, as well as the translator`s motivation and interests. Translating AfroDiasporic textualities is not just a linguistic activity, but also an ethical, aesthetic-political, ontological activity that enables multiple connectivities of modes of being, feeling, seeing and existing in the world of the diverse cultures that were forcibly dispersed throughout the world by the processes of slavery and colonization. This type of translation is extremely complex, as most of the textualities present political and ethical content aimed at creating meaning that can contribute to the formation of mentalities/subjectivities that are more sensitive to issues raised by the black populations of the African Diaspora. The analysis of this master thesis takes into account the cultural, linguistic, aesthetic, historical-cultural and political contexts of the production of the narrative, which are intrinsically related to Afro-Diasporic themes and to the literary project of the writer, since we have noticed inconsistencies in specific aspects of the translation, whose reverberations are quite significant. This work is in dialogue with theorists and critics of Afro-Brazilian literature and Translation Studies, such as Kwame Anthony Appiah (1993), Raquel de Souza (2017), Florentina Sousa (2006), Cristian Salles (2017) and others. Two Afro-Diasporic intellectuals, the Afro-American Geri Augusto (2017) and Afro-Brazilian Denise Carrascosa (2017) also figure prominently in the analysis, as their thinking has guided the work in a unifying way.