CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Center for Translation Studies at the University of Illinois will host a culture talk and bilingual readings focusing on Brazilian literature in translation on the Urbana-Champaign campus on Nov. 16. The program will be repeated on Nov. 17 in Chicago.
Participating authors and their translators are Ambassador João Almino de Souza, with translator Elizabeth Jackson; Miriam Alves, with translator Rick Santos; Ignacio de Loyola Brandão, with translator Nelson Vieira; Rubem Fonseca, with translator Elizabeth Lowe; and João Ubaldo Ribeiro, with translator Clifford Landers.
The campus event is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Nov. 16 in the Authors Corner, second floor, Illini Union Bookstore, 809 S. Wright St., Champaign.
The duplicate program in Chicago the following day will take place at Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio St., beginning at 4 p.m.
Both events are free and open to the public and do not require advance registration.
"The purpose of the program is to give a fresh, contemporary view of Brazilian literature to the English-speaking audience who may have limited knowledge of Brazilian literary culture," said Lowe, the director of the U. of I. Center for Translation Studies. "This program will benefit students and faculty of the University of Illinois, as well as community members and colleagues in translation programs and associations in the region.
At both the U. of I. and Chicago events, the program will combine a moderated culture talk with bilingual readings by the authors and their translators. Rhett McNeil, a fellow at Dalkey Archive Press, will serve as moderator.
Lowe called the featured authors "canonical figures in Brazilian literature." Some of them have been published by Dalkey Archive Press, which is associated with the U. of I., or are under consideration by the Press.
"They represent diverse trends in contemporary Brazilian letters that defy stereotypes of Brazilian culture and place Brazilian literature in the vanguard of contemporary inter-American writing," Lowe said.
The program on the U. of I. campus will feature two additional free public lectures organized in conjunction with the event:
• On Nov. 16, at noon, Vieira will discuss "The Cultural Politics of Diasporic Identities: Ways of Being Jewish in Brazil," in 4080A Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana.
• On Nov. 19, at 4 p.m., Alves will speak in the music room of the Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana.
Biographical information about the authors and their translators:
• Almino is a Brazilian writer and diplomat. He is the author of the acclaimed "Brasilia Trilogy," which comprises the novels "Ideas on Where to Spend the End of the World," "Samba-Enredo" and "The Five Seasons of Love," which won the 2003 Casa de las Americas Literary Award. He is an expert on the subject of authoritarianism and democracy in Brazil and is the author of several works of political philosophy. He has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, the Autonomous National University of Mexico and the University of Brasilia.
Jackson is a literary translator and teaches Portuguese at Wesleyan University.
• Alves is considered by many to be today's leading Afro-Brazilian female poet. Her writings, which represent the perspective of the black female experience, have been published in Portuguese, English and German.
Since 1982, Alves has participated in the Cadernos Negros series. Her other publications include "Terramara" (1988); "Women Righting: Afro-Brazilian Women's Short Fiction"; and two books of poetry: "Momentos de Busca" and Estrelas no dedo." She also has served as co-editor of "Finally ... Us, Contemporary Black Brazilian Women Writers" (1995).
Santos is a professor of English at the State University of New York at Nassau College, where he co-founded and coordinated the Latin American Studies Program. He has published articles and translations in the U.S., Brazil and Europe. His recent publications include "Listening to Silence: Forbidden Fruits in Clarice Lispector's 'The Body' " (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008).
• Brandão is most noted for his socially conscious fiction of resistance during the years of authoritarian military rule in Brazil. He began his career in film and then became a journalist. His apocalyptic novel, "Zero," was banned by the military, but subsequently won the prestigious Brasilia Prize and became a best-seller. He is the author of several novels.
Vieira is a professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies and of Judaic Studies at Brown University. He specializes in contemporary Brazilian fiction of the late 19th and 20th centuries. His recent publications include "The Prophet and Other Stories by Samuel Rawet," (introduction and translation); "Jewish Voices in Brazilian Literature: A Prophetic Discourse of Alterity"; and "Displacement and Disregard: Brazilian-Jewish Writing and the Search for Narrative Identity."
• Fonseca became a controversial and heavily censored icon of Brazilian urban fiction of the 1960s and continues to be considered a literary phenomenon today. He is best known for his short stories and detective novels, a genre he parodies with materials and techniques taken from mass culture. Recently Fonseca has devoted much of his writing to screenplays, which derives from his interest in film as theme and metaphor in his fictional writings. His works have been translated into English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. In 2003, he won the Juan Rulfo Prize and the Luis de Camões Prize.
Lowe, in addition to directing the U. of I.'s translation studies center, is a translator of Brazilian fiction. She also is a co-author of "Translation and the Rise of Inter-American Literature" (2007).
• Ubaldo is a Brazilian journalist and novelist from the state of Bahia. He combines a deep concern for Brazilian issues with an interest in formal artistic experimentation. His literary career mirrors events in recent Brazilian history. His novel "Sergeant Getlio" (1971; translation, 1978) narrates the efforts of a mercenary to deliver a prisoner in remote Northeast Brazil and it is notable for its violence and moral ambiguity. His novels of the 1970s deal with socioeconomic subjects, such as public corruption and poverty. His later fiction includes "The Lizard's Smile (1981; translation, 1994) and "An Invincible Memory (1984; translation, 1989).
Landers is a prolific translator of Brazilian fiction and taught political science at New Jersey City University. He is the author of "Literary Translation: A Practical Guide."
For more information about the culture talk, readings and other events, contact Lowe at elowe@illinois.edu.
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