Re-Discovering Brazilian Literary History: the Case for Translation

Abstract

Brazilian literary histories are structured either to trace the emergence of an autonomous literature (a “national literature”), or to postulate a “master” cultural gesture (such as “anthropopaghy.”) This article proposes translation as an alternative to these frameworks. First, it offers a rereading of Caminha’s “Carta do Achamento” as a problem of translation, identifying in it three distinct “translation regimes.” Then, it traces the recurring presence of these regimes in major literary events in Brazilian literature in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Ultimately, this model of literary history is aimed at enticing new explorations on diachronic affinities and synchnronic diversity.