katrintheresa on Nostr: Maybe this: “Macunaima can only be a bear to translate, and the first ...

Maybe this: “Macunaima can only be a bear to translate, and the first English-language version, which appeared in 1984, was rather stodgy, with much of the book's distinctive character sacri-ficed. But Dodson, the winner of a PEN translation prize for The Complete Stories of Clarice Lispector, acquits herself commendably here, managing to capture the playfulness, whimsicality, and sheer derangement of the novel. As she acknowledges, "Andrade's rhapsody revels in a confusion of tongues and deliberately emphasizes the instability and error that plague any attempt to codify systems of knowledge." Given the chaos he induces, her endnotes provide a welcome anchor, particularly in their explanation of terms and legends from Tupi language and folklore.”