Translation and science in the Luso-Brazilian enlightenment: intertextuality in epigraphs and mottoes

Abstract

Researchers working with translation history have been benefiting from information stemming from editorial paratexts, and these elements have also become an acceptable tool for science historians. For both groups of researchers, crucial information concerning intellectual and cultural affiliations can be unveiled by paratexts, taken as evidence of a written work's materiality in a given point in time and space, as well as of the intervention of authors, translators and editors in the way such work is to be interpreted. The revealing role of paratextual elements is even more prominent if one is interested in intertextual connections, which is the case with this paper. Here focus is given to epigraphs and mottoes, in a discussion based on the content of title pages of translations produced within the Luso-Brazilian Enlightenment. Published at the turn of the 18 th century in Lisbon and under the supervision of Brazilian-born Friar José Mariano da Conceição Velloso 1 , these translation aimed at the progress of the Portuguese Kingdom through the dissemination of "useful science." Their epigraphs and mottoes are relevant material for translation and science historians alike, as they allow for a deeper understanding of cultural networks decisive to the dissemination of enlightened ideas in Portuguese language.