FROM FRONTEIRA TO THRESHOLD: THICK TRANSLATION IN CORNÉLIO PENNA’S NOVEL

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the translation of Fronteira (1935), Cornélio Penna’s first novel, into English. To this end, we consider the notion of thick translation, first formulated by Kwame Anthony Appiah (1993) and further developed by Theo Hermans (2003). Both argue that the practice of translation always demands information that does not fit in the printed words of the publications and seeks other forms of expression, among them glossaries and footnotes. We believe that the work of scholars Tona and Edward Riggio, which resulted in the book Threshold (1975), contributed to a deeper understanding of Brazilian literature and culture in a process that closely resembles that of thick translation. Moreover, the comments in the paratexts of the publication support the definition of Penna’s novel as a paradigmatic text of the Brazilian Gothic, first proposed by Fernando Monteiro de Barros (2020) and later elaborated by João Pedro Bellas (2021). Unlike the categorization “Gothic in Brazil”, the Brazilian Gothic is a strand that combines formal elements of Gothic with themes particular to the reality of Brazil. In our analysis, we consider the paratextual components of Threshold elaborated by the translators and editors, such as the list of characters, the glossary, the afterword, and the use of Cornélio Penna’s illustrations.