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Translating Humor, Nationalisms, Etc. In Mário De Andrade’s Modernist Writings
Translation Review ( IF 0.2 ) Pub Date : 2017-09-02 , DOI: 10.1080/07374836.2017.1314841
Krista Brune

“Tupy, or not tupy that is the question,” proclaimed Oswald de Andrade in his seminal 1928 “Manifesto Antropófago.” Over fifty years later, Leslie Bary reproduced this aphorism word for word, with only a slight orthographic difference by employing the modern spelling of Tupi, in his 1991 translation of the Brazilian modernist text as the “Cannibalist Manifesto.” To render the original Portuguese text into English, Bary had to consider how to transform verbal signs from one language into another. In the case of this aphorism, however, the words were originally written in English as a parody of the famous Shakespearean quote, “To be or not to be, that is the question.” Oswald substituted the infinitive “to be” with Tupi, the generic name for the indigenous peoples of Brazil and their language, in his manifesto that advocates for cultural cannibalism. He proclaimed that, rather than simply mimic external influences or reject them entirely, Brazilian artists should digest foreign materials and incorporate what is useful in order to produce their own cultural products. With this allusion to Brazil’s indigenous past and to Hamlet, Oswald invoked the history of colonialism, cannibalism, and cultural imperialism in Brazil. Although this aphorism may seem straightforward in translation into English since the language remains the same, the historical and cultural context of this phrase and its resulting humor pose a challenge to the translator. By conveying the significance of the word Tupi in a footnote, Bary’s translation maintains the manifesto’s telegraphic style and also compensates for the more limited familiarity of English-language readers with Brazilian history and culture. Humor, like this parodic aphorism in the manifesto, often depends upon specific historical contexts, cultural references, and shared sensibilities or experiences. It creates a particular difficulty for translators who must recognize its presence, meaning, and relative importance in the text of the source language before deciding how to proceed with the translation. They must grapple with how to maintain, compensate, or acceptably lose humor in translation. These questions are especially relevant to the translation of the manifestos, poems, and prose of Brazilian modernism from the 1920s and 1930s, most notably the writings of its two iconic figures Mário de Andrade (1893–1945) and Oswald de Andrade (1890–1954). An irreverent, humorous tone often characterizes these avantgarde writings, as apparent in Mário de Andrade’s 1928 novel Macunaíma and the aforementioned “Manifesto Antropófago.” These works satirize Brazilian society, its traditions and customs, and its educated elites, a class to which both of these modernist writers belonged. A Brazilian reading public likely feels in on the humor, as they recognize that the manifestos, short stories, and novels should not be interpreted at a literal level. This

中文翻译:

翻译马里奥·德·安德拉德现代主义著作中的幽默、民族主义等

奥斯瓦尔德·德·安德拉德 (Oswald de Andrade) 在其 1928 年开创性的《人类宣言》(Manifesto Antropófago) 中宣称:“Tupy,还是不 tupy,这是一个问题。” 五十多年后,莱斯利·巴里 (Leslie Bary) 在 1991 年将巴西现代主义文本翻译为“食人者宣言”时,通过使用 Tupi 的现代拼写,逐字逐句地复制了这句格言。为了将原始葡萄牙语文本翻译成英语,巴里不得不考虑如何将语言符号从一种语言转换为另一种语言。然而,就这句格言而言,这些词最初是用英语写成的,是对莎士比亚著名名言“存在与否,这是个问题”的模仿。奥斯瓦尔德在他倡导文化自相残杀的宣言中用图皮取代了不定式“成为”,图皮是巴西土著人民及其语言的通用名称。他宣称,与其简单地模仿外部影响或完全拒绝它们,巴西艺术家应该消化外国材料并吸收有用的东西,以生产自己的文化产品。奥斯瓦尔德通过对巴西土著过去和哈姆雷特的暗示,引用了巴西的殖民主义、同类相食和文化帝国主义的历史。尽管由于语言保持不变,这句格言在翻译成英语时可能看起来很简单,但这句话的历史和文化背景及其产生的幽默对翻译者构成了挑战。通过在脚注中传达图皮这个词的意义,巴里的翻译保持了宣言的电报风格,也弥补了英语读者对巴西历史和文化的熟悉程度有限的问题。幽默,就像宣言中的这句戏谑格言,通常取决于特定的历史背景、文化参考和共同的感受或经历。这给翻译人员带来了特殊的困难,他们在决定如何进行翻译之前必须认识到它在源语言文本中的存在、意义和相对重要性。他们必须努力解决如何在翻译中保持、补偿或可接受地失去幽默。这些问题与 1920 年代和 1930 年代巴西现代主义宣言、诗歌和散文的翻译尤其相关,尤其是其两位标志性人物马里奥·德·安德拉德(Mário de Andrade,1893-1945)和奥斯瓦尔德·德·安德拉德(Oswald de Andrade,1890-1954 年)的著作)。一种不敬、幽默的语气常常是这些前卫作品的特征,正如马里奥·德·安德拉德 (Mário de Andrade) 1928 年的小说《Macunaíma》和前面提到的“Manifesto Antropófago”中所体现的那样。这些作品讽刺了巴西社会、其传统和习俗以及受过教育的精英,这两位现代主义作家都属于这个阶级。巴西读者可能会喜欢这种幽默,因为他们认识到宣言、短篇小说和小说不应该从字面上解释。这
更新日期:2017-09-02
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