Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Bezerra de Araújo, Aryadne
Data de Publicação: 2021
Outros Autores: Ferreira, Élida Paulina
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: por
Título da fonte: Belas Infiéis
Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieis/article/view/31988
Resumo: We propose to draw a parallel between the endless work of mourning and the translation scene in Graciliano Ramos' Memoirs of Prison, and its translation Mémoires de Prison. Following the tread of Jacques Derrida's thought, we argue that translation sets in motion an enduring process of mourning due to the imperative necessity of introjecting the “original” text and, paradoxically, to the impossibility of accomplishing such intent ”“ since the other and their writing are not available in a fully approachable present. Once assimilation has been interrupted, the work of mourning remains open in its undecidability and, therefore, open to the melancholic condition of longing for a “nonexistent completeness” (PERES, 2011) of the original. Through investigation of the translation of Graciliano Ramos' testimonial narrative into French, we attest a bereaved translation task that, in an effort to repeat wounds of the other who had been imprisoned, transforms his writing, showing marks of a mourning for a non-present origin. Therefore, translators engender a gesture of appropriating without completely appropriating the other, speaking with him without silencing him, writing over his text, without destroying it, but counter-signing it and a secret rest of his otherness that cannot be appropriated. We notice traces of this bereaved ex-appropriation in non-translated words, and in its explanatory notes, in the expressions that constitute the melancholic atmosphere of Graciliano's testimony that the translators transform, creating, in this way, a different melancholic atmosphere in their rewriting, and, at last, in the mutation they operate in the melancholic antagonistic movement and the elliptical language of Memoirs. As a consequence of such gestures, traces of an open wound in Memoirs of Prison become relevant in Mémoires de Prison, in the sense that Derrida (2000) engages to the action of  making “relevant”: suppressing and elevating, in the same movement of iterability (repetition and deferral) that keeps the mourning for the non-present other and his non-appropriable signature. The data presented in this paper are based on the analysis of the first volume of Memories, entitled “Voyages”, and its translation.
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spelling Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison Luto impossível e melancolia na tradução de Memórias do Cárcere Literary translation. Mémoires de Prison. Testimonial writing. Graciliano Ramos. Derrida.Tradução literária. Mémoires de Prison. Escrita testemunhal. Graciliano Ramos. Jacques Derrida.We propose to draw a parallel between the endless work of mourning and the translation scene in Graciliano Ramos' Memoirs of Prison, and its translation Mémoires de Prison. Following the tread of Jacques Derrida's thought, we argue that translation sets in motion an enduring process of mourning due to the imperative necessity of introjecting the “original” text and, paradoxically, to the impossibility of accomplishing such intent ”“ since the other and their writing are not available in a fully approachable present. Once assimilation has been interrupted, the work of mourning remains open in its undecidability and, therefore, open to the melancholic condition of longing for a “nonexistent completeness” (PERES, 2011) of the original. Through investigation of the translation of Graciliano Ramos' testimonial narrative into French, we attest a bereaved translation task that, in an effort to repeat wounds of the other who had been imprisoned, transforms his writing, showing marks of a mourning for a non-present origin. Therefore, translators engender a gesture of appropriating without completely appropriating the other, speaking with him without silencing him, writing over his text, without destroying it, but counter-signing it and a secret rest of his otherness that cannot be appropriated. We notice traces of this bereaved ex-appropriation in non-translated words, and in its explanatory notes, in the expressions that constitute the melancholic atmosphere of Graciliano's testimony that the translators transform, creating, in this way, a different melancholic atmosphere in their rewriting, and, at last, in the mutation they operate in the melancholic antagonistic movement and the elliptical language of Memoirs. As a consequence of such gestures, traces of an open wound in Memoirs of Prison become relevant in Mémoires de Prison, in the sense that Derrida (2000) engages to the action of  making “relevant”: suppressing and elevating, in the same movement of iterability (repetition and deferral) that keeps the mourning for the non-present other and his non-appropriable signature. The data presented in this paper are based on the analysis of the first volume of Memories, entitled “Voyages”, and its translation.Propomos urdir um paralelo entre o trabalho de luto e a cena tradutória ”“ que compreende o instante da escrita tradutória, os tradutores e o texto a traduzir ”“ partindo da leitura de Memórias do Cárcere, de Graciliano Ramos (1954), e da sua tradução em Mémoires de Prison, elaborada por Antoine Seel e Jorge Coli (1988). Seguindo o rastro do pensamento de Jacques Derrida, argumentamos que a tradução mobiliza um processo perdurável de luto pela necessária introjeção do texto “original” e, paradoxalmente, pela impossibilidade de realizar tal intento, uma vez que o outro e sua escrita não estão disponíveis em um presente resgatável. Diante da assimilação interrompida, o luto permanece aberto, prolongando-se na sua indecidibilidade e, por conseguinte, abrindo-se à condição melancólica na “ânsia desejante” pela “inexistente completude” (PERES, 2011) de uma escrita original. Na investigação da tradução da narrativa testemunhal de Graciliano Ramos para o francês, atestamos a performance enlutada dos tradutores que, no esforço de repetirem as feridas do outro encarcerado, operam a transformação da sua escrita, deixando entrever as marcas de um luto pelo original  que não é presente em si. Desse modo, os tradutores buscam se apropriar sem se apropriar completamente do outro, falar com ele sem silenciá-lo, rasurar sua escrita, sem destruí-la, contra-assinando o texto e um resto secreto e inapropriável da sua alteridade. Apreendemos vestígios dessa busca de apropriação  por meio das palavras não traduzidas, das notas explicativas que acompanham essas transcrições, dos signos que, transformados no processo tradutório, compõem a trama melancólica da escrita de Graciliano e dos tradutores; e, por fim, vemos traços dessa busca interrompida de introjeção da escrita do outro na mutação que os tradutores operam no movimento antagônico da melancolia e na linguagem elíptica e “seca” do testemunho original. Nesses gestos, os rastros de uma ferida aberta em Memórias do cárcere são relevados por Seel e Coli em Mémoires de Prison, no sentido que Derrida (2000) enreda à ação de “relevar”: suprimir e elevar, num mesmo movimento de iterabilidade (repetição e diferimento) que guarda o luto pelo outro não-presente e pela sua assinatura não-apropriável. Os dados aqui apresentados partem da análise da tradução do primeiro volume das Memórias, intitulado “Viagens”.Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Tradução (POSTRAD) do Departamento de Línguas Estrangeiras e Tradução (LET) do Instituto de Letras (IL) da Universidade de Brasília2021-07-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieis/article/view/3198810.26512/belasinfieis.v10.n3.2021.31988Belas Infiéis; Vol. 10 No. 3 (2021): Traduzir em tempos de peste e confinamento; 01-21Belas Infiéis; v. 10 n. 3 (2021): Traduzir em tempos de peste e confinamento; 01-212316-661410.26512/belasinfieis.v10.n3.2021.3reponame:Belas Infiéisinstname:Universidade de Brasília (UnB)instacron:UNBporhttps://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieis/article/view/31988/30262Copyright (c) 2021 CC BYhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessBezerra de Araújo, AryadneFerreira, Élida Paulina2021-07-02T14:15:53Zoai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/31988Revistahttps://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieisPUBhttps://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieis/oai||germanahp@gmail.com|| belasinfieis@gmail.com2316-66142316-6614opendoar:2021-07-02T14:15:53Belas Infiéis - Universidade de Brasília (UnB)false
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
Luto impossível e melancolia na tradução de Memórias do Cárcere
title Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
spellingShingle Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
Bezerra de Araújo, Aryadne
Literary translation. Mémoires de Prison. Testimonial writing. Graciliano Ramos. Derrida.
Tradução literária. Mémoires de Prison. Escrita testemunhal. Graciliano Ramos. Jacques Derrida.
title_short Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
title_full Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
title_fullStr Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
title_full_unstemmed Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
title_sort Impossible mourning and melancholy in the translation of Memoirs of Prison
author Bezerra de Araújo, Aryadne
author_facet Bezerra de Araújo, Aryadne
Ferreira, Élida Paulina
author_role author
author2 Ferreira, Élida Paulina
author2_role author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Bezerra de Araújo, Aryadne
Ferreira, Élida Paulina
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Literary translation. Mémoires de Prison. Testimonial writing. Graciliano Ramos. Derrida.
Tradução literária. Mémoires de Prison. Escrita testemunhal. Graciliano Ramos. Jacques Derrida.
topic Literary translation. Mémoires de Prison. Testimonial writing. Graciliano Ramos. Derrida.
Tradução literária. Mémoires de Prison. Escrita testemunhal. Graciliano Ramos. Jacques Derrida.
description We propose to draw a parallel between the endless work of mourning and the translation scene in Graciliano Ramos' Memoirs of Prison, and its translation Mémoires de Prison. Following the tread of Jacques Derrida's thought, we argue that translation sets in motion an enduring process of mourning due to the imperative necessity of introjecting the “original” text and, paradoxically, to the impossibility of accomplishing such intent ”“ since the other and their writing are not available in a fully approachable present. Once assimilation has been interrupted, the work of mourning remains open in its undecidability and, therefore, open to the melancholic condition of longing for a “nonexistent completeness” (PERES, 2011) of the original. Through investigation of the translation of Graciliano Ramos' testimonial narrative into French, we attest a bereaved translation task that, in an effort to repeat wounds of the other who had been imprisoned, transforms his writing, showing marks of a mourning for a non-present origin. Therefore, translators engender a gesture of appropriating without completely appropriating the other, speaking with him without silencing him, writing over his text, without destroying it, but counter-signing it and a secret rest of his otherness that cannot be appropriated. We notice traces of this bereaved ex-appropriation in non-translated words, and in its explanatory notes, in the expressions that constitute the melancholic atmosphere of Graciliano's testimony that the translators transform, creating, in this way, a different melancholic atmosphere in their rewriting, and, at last, in the mutation they operate in the melancholic antagonistic movement and the elliptical language of Memoirs. As a consequence of such gestures, traces of an open wound in Memoirs of Prison become relevant in Mémoires de Prison, in the sense that Derrida (2000) engages to the action of  making “relevant”: suppressing and elevating, in the same movement of iterability (repetition and deferral) that keeps the mourning for the non-present other and his non-appropriable signature. The data presented in this paper are based on the analysis of the first volume of Memories, entitled “Voyages”, and its translation.
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dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021-07-01
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dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieis/article/view/31988
10.26512/belasinfieis.v10.n3.2021.31988
url https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieis/article/view/31988
identifier_str_mv 10.26512/belasinfieis.v10.n3.2021.31988
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dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/belasinfieis/article/view/31988/30262
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv Copyright (c) 2021 CC BY
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Copyright (c) 2021 CC BY
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Tradução (POSTRAD) do Departamento de Línguas Estrangeiras e Tradução (LET) do Instituto de Letras (IL) da Universidade de Brasília
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Tradução (POSTRAD) do Departamento de Línguas Estrangeiras e Tradução (LET) do Instituto de Letras (IL) da Universidade de Brasília
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Belas Infiéis; Vol. 10 No. 3 (2021): Traduzir em tempos de peste e confinamento; 01-21
Belas Infiéis; v. 10 n. 3 (2021): Traduzir em tempos de peste e confinamento; 01-21
2316-6614
10.26512/belasinfieis.v10.n3.2021.3
reponame:Belas Infiéis
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repository.name.fl_str_mv Belas Infiéis - Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
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