A tradução tardia do Quixote em Portugal

Abstract

This paper is a digression on a historical fact: the lack of a translation of Quixote in Portugal for 189 years, during which the work was edited and read in Spanish. It begins with an overview of the novel’s reception in this country from 1605 to 1793. The first translation into Portuguese is from 1794, with no indication of a translator, published three times. Only in 1876 is published the first translation, signed by the Viscount de Castilho, de Azevedo and Pinheiro Chagas. Then, the historical and linguistic conditions that would allow the fact of the absence of translation for almost two centuries, focusing on cultural Luso-Spanish bilingualism which lasted 250 years. In the end, it is offered an example; an excerpt from the Quixote’s beginning, removed from the cited publications, so that readers can view the Quixote as it was read by the readers of the XVII, XVIII and XIX centuries. It concludes with a dialogue between some translation studies related to the theme, to support the proposal of this article.