A trilingual reading of “A cartomante” by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

Abstract

Abstract. This article examines early translations of “A cartomante,” one of the most anthologized stories written by Brazilian author Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. I compare an Argentine translation and an English translation vis-à-vis the Portuguese original to determine to what extent they preserve and reproduce the literary features of the original text. I assess the alterations of the authorial voice in terms of additions, omissions, word choice, and style. Translation studies notions developed by Ernst-August Gutt and Lin Zhu inform this analysis. Whereas the Argentine translation tends to present more typos, suppress words, and reduce the intensity of some passages, the English translation over-dramatizes and over-explains some scenes, at the same time that it reimagines the characters to make them more attractive to the US readership. However, both translations reject some of the most characteristic aspects of Machado de Assis’s writing such as colloquialism and self-reflexivity. The close reading of these translations can help improve our understanding of Machado de Assis’s reception in Latin America and the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.