A VOZ DE ANA MARIA MACHADO NA TRADUÇÃO DE THE SECRET GARDEN

Abstract

In the context of Translation Studies, studies carried out within the scope of Children's Literature have gained significant attention due to the importance of the mediating role of the translator of this literary genre and to the specificities of the target audience. The purpose of this article is to show how Ana Maria Machado’s voice as the translator of the book The Secret Garden (1911), written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is evident in the construction of its Brazilian Portuguese narrative, entitled O Jardim Secreto (1993). For this purpose, a comparative analysis is made between the source text and the target text, through a computational system based on a parallel corpus, COPA-TRAD – Translation Parallel Corpus. The theoretical framework informing the study draws on the concept of “translator's voice” as “discursive presence” (HERMANS, 1996). Additionally, the procedures of translating culture-specific items (AIXELÁ, 1996) were adopted as categories of analysis and description of the translation practices under investigation. The results point to the translator’s discursive presence as a differential voice which manifests itself most explicitly through translation procedures in which the reader is provided with a cultural reference inserted in the discourse of the translated text.

Keywords: Children’s Literature, Translator’s Voice or Discursive Presence, Narrative, Culture-Specific Items.