The Meremost Minimum: Beckett’s Translations into Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

This paper aims to establish relations between the original Worstward ho text and its translations into Portuguese, especially the one that is intended for Brazilian Portuguese, analyzing the translation choices that marked both the linguistic and the sonic elements of the text. At the same time, Vaz Shimbo and de Souza Andrade contribute in their essay to the reflections on the untranslatability of Beckett’s prose. Based on the assumption that translating the Beckettian work is to accept the condition of the unreachable balance between literality and literary precision, the objective of the authors is to confront the effects created by this sonorous and moving language, in a text that is made from the sounds and rhythm and whose elements are articulated in a profuse creation of images.

Apppendix: Brazilian Translations and Secondary Sources

[Note: Many other Beckett translations into Brazilian Portuguese remain unpublished to this day, accessible, if so, only in private archives. João Marschner and Silvano Santiago, the latter a distinguished Brazilian professor and novelist, translated Endgame, for the 1958 Brazilian première in Belo Horizonte; Amir Haddad and Sérgio Britto, celebrated director and actor, respectively, translated the same play for their 1970 production, in Rio de Janeiro; Gerald Thomas, a Brazilian director, did so for his Fim de Jogo, in 1990. Maria Adelaide Amaral, a playwright herself, translated A Última Gravação de Krapp, performed by Antonio Pétrin, in 2000. Millôr Fernandes, a polygraphic author and talented artist and illustrator, as well as translator, provided the text for Francisco Medeiro’s Fim de Jogo, in 2001. Since 1986, Rubens Rusche, has systematically directed a great part of Beckett’s dramatic works, from Endgame to the late dramaticules, always taking advantage of his own translations.]

Plays

(1973), Malone Morre/Dias Felizes, translated by Roberto Ballalai, São Paulo: Opera Mundi.

(2010), Dias Felizes, translated by Fábio de Souza Andrade, São Paulo: Cosac Naify.

(1976), Esperando Godot, translated by Flávio Rangel, São Paulo: Ed. Abril.

(1996), Improviso de Ohio, translated by Leyla Perrone-Moisés, Folha de São Paulo: Caderno Mais! 08/09/1996.

(2005), Esperando Godot, translated by Fábio de Souza Andrade, São Paulo: Cosac Naify [2nd. ed: 2017. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras].

(1998), Eu Não, translated by Rubens Rusche and Luiz Benati, São Paulo: Olavobrás.

(2002), Fim de Partida, translated by Fábio de Souza Andrade, São Paulo: Cosac Naify.

Prose

(1973), Malone Morre/Dias Felizes, translated by Roberto Ballalai, São Paulo: Opera Mundi.

(1982), Companhia, translated by Elsa Martins, Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Alves.

(1986), Malone Morre, translated by Paulo Leminski, São Paulo: Brasiliense [Second edition: 2004. São Paulo: Códex].

(1987), Molloy, translated by Leo Schlafman, Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira.

(1987), Primeiro Amor, translated by Waltensir Dutra (biling.), Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira.

(1989), O Inominável, translated by Waltensir Dutra, Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira.

(1996), ‘Ping’, translated by Haroldo de Campos and Maria H. Kopschitz, in Guirlanda de histórias: uma antologia do conto irlandês, organized by Munira H. Mutran, São Paulo: ABEI/Olavobrás.

(2003), Como É, translated by Ana Helena Souza, São Paulo: Iluminuras.

(2003), Primeiro Amor, translated by Célia Euvaldo, São Paulo: Cosac Naify.

(2006), ‘Dante e a lagosta’, translated by Munira H. Mutran, in O Mundo e suas Criaturas - Uma Antologia do Conto Irlandês, organized by Munira H. Mutran, São Paulo: Humanitas.

(2006), Mal Visto Mal Dito. O Despovoador, translated by Eloísa Araújo, São Paulo: Martins Fontes.

(2006), Novelas, translated by Eloísa Araújo, São Paulo: Martins Fontes.

(2007), Molloy, translated by Ana Helena Souza, São Paulo: Globo.

(2009), O Inominável, translated by Ana Helena Souza, São Paulo: Globo.

(2012), Companhia e Outros textos: Companhia, Pra frente o pior, Sobressaltos, O caminho, Teto, Ouvido no escuro I e II, translated by Ana Helena Souza, São Paulo: Globo.

(2015), Murphy, translated by Fabio de Souza Andrade, São Paulo: Cosac Naify.

(2015), Textos por Nada, translated by Eloiza Araújo, São Paulo: Cosac Naify.

(2016), Ossos de Eco, translated by Caetano Galindo, São Paulo: Globo.

Essays

(1992), ‘Dante…Bruno. Vico..Joyce’, translated by Lya Luft, in Riverrun: Ensaios sobre James Joyce, Organized by Arthur Nestrovski, Rio de Janeiro: Imago.

(2003), Proust, translated by Arthur Nestrovski, São Paulo: Cosac Naify.

About Beckett

Andrade, Fábio de Souza (2001), Samuel Beckett: o Silêncio Possível, São Paulo: Ateliê Editorial.

Araújo, Rosanne (2012), Niilismo Heroico em Samuel Beckett e Hilda Hilst: Fim e Recomeço da Narrativa, Natal, RN: ABEU.

Berretini, Célia (1977), A Linguagem de Beckett, São Paulo: Perspectiva.

Berretini, Célia (2004), Samuel Beckett: Escritor Plural, São Paulo: Perspectiva.

Borges, Gabriela (2009), A Poética Televisual de Samuel Beckett, São Paulo: AnnaBlume/Fapesp.

Cavalcanti, Isabel (2006), Eu Que Não Estou Aí Onde Estou, Rio de Janeiro: 7Letras.

Diniz, Lívia Gonçalves (2018), Em Busca de Companhia: O Universo da Prosa Final de Samuel Beckett, São Paulo: Humanitas/Fapesp.

Lima, Luiz Costa (2017), Melancolia: Literatura, São Paulo: Editora da UNESP.

Maciel, Luis Carlos (1959), Samuel Beckett e a Solidão Humana, Porto Alegre: Instituto Estadual do Livro.

Marfuz, Luiz (2013), Beckett e a Implosão da Cena: Poética Teatral e Estratégias de Encenação, São Paulo: Perspectiva.

Ramos, Luiz Fernando (1999), O Parto de Godot e Outras Encenações Imaginárias, São Paulo: Hucitec/Fapesp.

Sagayama, Mario (2018), Ele Fala De Si Como De Um Outro: Ensaio Sobre a Voz em Samuel Beckett, São Paulo: AnnaBlume.

Souza, Ana Helena (2006), A Tradução Como um Outro Original: ‘Como é’ de Samuel Beckett, Rio de Janeiro: 7Letras.

Vasconcellos, Cláudia Maria (2012), Teatro inferno: Samuel Beckett, São Paulo: Terracota.

Vasconcellos, Cláudia Maria (2017), Beckett e Seus Duplos, São Paulo: Iluminuras.