The translation of literature, whether poetry or prose, is first and foremost art. Art is a product of creation, and creation is incompatible with literalness. It is possible to recreate in translation a unity of similarity with sufficient breadth to encompass, understand, and interpret the original’s set of meanings and the culture that imbued them. The translator draws a clear line between literal similarity and artistic similarity, considering that this similarity can only be resolved through art and that only artistic similarity allows the reader to penetrate the universe of the author’s meanings and intentions, to feel and experience the stylistic line in its diversity, and that artistic similarity neither disguises nor distorts the author.

Speaker: Professor Paulo Bezerra, Fluminense Federal University.
Discussant: Professor Cecília Cavalieri França, School of Music, UFMG.