Epiphytic writing: translation of El Licenciado Torralba by Ramón de Campoamor by D. Pedro II

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the translation manuscript made by Pedro II (Brazilian Emperor), of the work entitled El Licenciado Torralba by Ramón de Campoamor from Spanish into Portuguese. The manuscript dates from 1889 and was made during the deposed Emperor's exile trip. It is contained in a small book, the initial pages of which have been lost. The translation, written in pencil, is superimposed on the Spanish work, which I call Epiphyte. It is a poem in eight chapters, of which 174 pages have been translated. Today it belongs to the library of the Mariano Procópio Museum in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and was discovered in April 2024. In this text I present a brief genetic dossier, which elucidates the translator's Hispanic interest and engagement in the literary and cultural conjuncture of the 19th century, and a summary that brushes over the lost initial pages of the work and brings context to the leitmotif of the work. Finally, I present an analysis of two translated pages in the light of genetic criticism.