If the thought of a brand new Jane Austen text being discovered gets you giddy, well, unfortunately there is to be no giddiness today – the title of this post is indeed too good to be true.
However, I do bring you news of the next best thing: A brand new translation. São Paulo publisher Landmark has just launched a new edition of Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion (1918), with a translation into Portuguese by Fábio Cyrino. And here’s the best bit: It’s a parallel text edition, which means you get the Portuguese text alongside the original.
Landmark specializes in publishing world literature classics in bilingual editions and their titles already include The Complete Sonnets of Shakespeare, Dante’s Divine Comedy and John Donne’s Meditations.
The next two in the series will be The Last Man by Mary Shelly and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, which will be published in September.
Reading a translation alongside the original is not only an insight into the subtleties of literary translation, but is also good for improving your Portuguese/English/both. Plus the delight you’ll get from reading this story.
The novel opens seven years after Anne Elliot has been persuaded to end her relationship with her true love, the poor naval commander Frederick Wentworth because he doesn’t have an inheritance. Now Anne encounters Frederick again, and grapples with her feelings when she discovers he is now courting her neighbour Louisa Musgrove.
Persuasion contains all the classic Austen ingredients – irony, satire, delicious examination of human psychology – it’s all there.
Persuasão – Edição Bilingue – Jane Austen
Editora Landmark
ISBN 9788588781337
6 responses so far ↓
gilrang // August 22, 2007 at 4:36 am |
sarah,
in brazil, it´s hard to find some classics in its original (native?) language. so, this bilingual edition might be a good chance to read austen´s own words, not to mention the benefits you have already pointed out. mary shelley and emile brontë surely are two good reasons to pay attention to landmark´s series.
before rushing to the library to look for the books, just a few questions: who did the translation in shakespeare´s sonnets? is the bilingual dante´s comedy presented in portuguese and italian, or is it just an english translation which was put into portuguese? either i missed something or this information is not published in the editor´s page.
The Spectacled Bear // August 22, 2007 at 12:41 pm |
Hi Gilrang, thanks for your comment and for visiting the site.
Actually, although I didn’t mention it in my post, the publisher’s site does indeed give info on the translator. ‘Os Sonetos Completos’ and ‘A Divina Comédia’ were both translated into Portuguese by Vasco Graça Moura.
He was born in 1942 in Portugal and is also a poet, columnist and fiction writer. He has won scores of prizes for his translations and own writing, including The Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Prize (1979), The Pessoa prize (1995), The P.E.N. Club of Portugal Translation Prize (1996), The Eça de Queiroz Prize (1997) and even a gold medal from the City of Florence (1998). Check out his biography on the Landmark site or Google his name to see just how prolific he is.
gilrang // August 22, 2007 at 2:21 pm |
dear bear,
you stand correct! it seems i was looking in the wrong places for the information. now, i went further and, indeed, there he is: vasco graça moura! wow! the guy is not just prolific… he´s terrific!… lots of titles, many prizes… it´s certainly a nice start to know the translator´s CV.
thanks for your response. i wouldn´t wish a kinder and a more complete one!
AustenBlog . . . she’s everywhere » Sunday Bookblogging: Yes, We Know It’s Not Friday Edition // August 26, 2007 at 4:14 pm |
[...] stumbled across a blog post at The Spectacled Bear announcing a new version of Persuasion in Portuguese. And here’s the best bit: It’s a parallel text edition, which means you get the Portuguese [...]
denise bottmann // January 6, 2009 at 2:12 pm |
not a brand new translation, i’m afraid…
http://naogostodeplagio.blogspot.com/2009/01/landmarkismo-estgio-superior-do.html
atenciosamente,
denise bottmann
Brazilian translator of Jane Austen novel accused of plagiarism « The Spectacled Bear // January 23, 2009 at 5:30 pm |
[...] Last year, I wrote this post about the launch of several new Portuguese parallel text editions of English classic titles. Among [...]