Urso de Óculos

Brazilian publisher L&PM has launched a new Portuguese translation of  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The translation is by Celina Portocarrero, with an introduction by Ivo Barroso.

This publication really is a big deal, and worth celebration in Brazil. Firstly, because the story is a joy to read and secondly because of the background to this translation.

Following allegations of plagiarism in previous Brazilian editions of Jane Austen, one of which I wrote about here, Raquel Sallaberry publically asked L&PM to consider publishing a Jane Austen collection with brand new translations. The publisher responded to the call, and the first in the Jane Austen series has now been launched.

With a solid reputation for commissioning fresh translations of classic world literature, L&PM has a fascinating history, from its first censor-avoiding publications during the military dictatorship, to its 30+ year history of publishing excellent Brazilian and international writing at accessible prices.

Celina Portocarrero has translated many novels and short stories from French and English into Portuguese, including Marcel Proust’s Un Amor de Swann, for which she won the 2007 prize for best translation from French as part of the Prêmio Açorianos de Literatura.  She is also a poet, with a first collection published in 2007 by 7letras.

According to Sallaberry, prior to this new translation, the most recent truly new Brazilian  edition of Pride and Prejudice was a 1940 translation by Lúcio Cardoso. Since then, two other “translations” have been published and proclaimed as new, but  evidence documented by Denise Bottmann of Não Gosto de Plágio (I don’t like Plagiarism), indicates that the editions are copies of previous translations: one from Portugal and the other by Cardoso, attributed to unknown and apparently non-existent “translators” and published by well known Brazilian publishers, bearing remarkable similarities to the previous editions, including the same errors and omissions of whole chunks of text in some cases.

Unfortunately, plagiarism of literary translation in Brazil seems to be common, and not confined to Jane Austen novels. There are now numerous known cases of translations signed by fictional translators, leaving the publisher (illegally) free from obligations of accreditation and fees payable under Brazilian and international copyright laws.

As outdated translations continue to be marketed to readers as fresh approaches to the original texts, Bottmann’s meticulously detailed and well researched blog calls on the publishers involved to withdraw illegal editions.

It’s great to see a Brazilian press take a risk on a new translation of a classic when there are several versions in Portuguese already available on the market, and for this L&PM should be applauded. It’s also refreshing to see an opinion from the writer of a superb, non-commercially motivated blog being taken into account by a publisher.

I haven’t seen the book yet, but glowing reviews of Portocarrero’s translation have started to appear on the Internet. If your local bricks and mortar bookseller doesn’t stock it, I recommend you buy your copy online directly from the publisher.

Orgulho e Preconceito (Pride and Prejudice)
Translation to Portuguese by Celina Portocarrero
Published in Brazil by L&PM
ISBN 9788525419644

Post written by Sarah Rebecca.