Brazil – History of Translation/Brasil – História da Tradução
PGET publishes an entry in the Encyclopedia of Translation and Interpreting (ENTI), entitled “Brazil – History of Translation/Brasil – História da Tradução,” by Andréia Guerini and Walter Carlos Costa, which can be accessed here.
Abstrat: The history of translation and interpretation in Brazil is old, poorly documented and insufficiently known. However, Brazil is one of the countries where Translation Studies occupy a prominent position in graduate studies, and this has contributed to the multiplication of research on the history of translation in different institutions. What follows is a brief overview of a complex history spanning several centuries and involving a wide variety of actors in a huge area. Centuries before the arrival of the Portuguese, there were, to varying degrees, interpretation among the indigenous peoples, especially among the Tupis who occupied much of the Brazilian coast and other peoples who inhabited the region. Since the official “discovery” of Brazil in 1500, the Portuguese colonizers have regularly practised interpretation with the different indigenous peoples as they occupied the territory, often using Tupi as an intermediate language. Then, with the arrival of the Jesuits, and with the efforts to catechize part of the indigenous population, relations began to change and from oral tradition, we moved on to written tradition. The written tradition takes shape after the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil in 1808, as the books that were previously printed in Portugal are now produced in Brazil, under the control of the Royal Press. In the 19th century, the country began to publish newspapers, magazines and books on a regular basis, and translation became an important presence, although not always explicit. In the 20th century, we witnessed the development of the national publishing industry and translation will play an important role in it at different times. The translation will be done mainly from French and English, from which indirect translations will be done, which will be frequent until the middle of the century. At the end of the 20th century and in the 21st century, we will see a real revolution in terms of translation in the country, which coincides with the digital revolution and the development of universities. Translation, which is increasingly done directly from a wide range of languages, not only occupies an important place in national production, but is also studied systematically in universities. Specific master’s and doctorate programs in Translation Studies were created, and there is a growing bibliography on the area, including several specialized journals.
