Translation of burlesque epic poetry: La Gatomaquia by Lope de Vega

Abstract

This article proposes a brief introduction of the epic-burlesque poem of Félix Lope de Vega, La Gatomaquia (1634), a still secondary piece in the studies about the author, whose extensive bibliography focuses instead on his dramatic work. Two central issues justify this pos-doctoral enterprise: the first is about Lope de Vega´s option of a burlesque genre to end his epic work, after having published long poems that attempted to build in Spain the imaginary of a glorious history, much like Luis de Camões did in Portugal with OsLusíadas (1572). Nevertheless, far from proposing an innovative project, as he had done in El arte nuevo de hacercomedias (1609), which tried to account for a new type of comedy that had been consolidating Spain, Lope makes clear that he belongs in a tradition which is essential for the composition of this jocose poem and whose names include Marcião de Sinope, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and, specially, Homer. This article aims at analysing, therefore, the references present in the poem and the reach of the burlesque genre in spanish literature. The second issue points towards the still scanty reach of epic spanish poetry in Brazil, which opens up space to a proposal of a commented translation of the poem from castilian to portuguese, aiming at fostering sixteenth-century spanish literature in portuguese-speaking countries. This investigation brings together results from my doctorate thesis, which pointed to the necessity of a critical edition of La Gatomaquia, whose reach would be even bigger with its subsequent translation to portuguese, which would result in a bilingual publication.