The Translation of Milenio Carvalho, by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, into Portuguese and French: From Social Taboo to Linguistic Taboo

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the translation of some units of the Spanish language lexicon into Portuguese and French languages of the book Milenio Carvalho (2004), by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, from a perspective that considers inseparable the relationship between lexicon and culture. We first address the issue of the lexicon as a cultural representation based on research of Caune (2014), Borba (2006), Nunes (2010), Lara (2015), and Antunes (2012). Next, we discuss the problematics of taboo both in its psychosocial genesis, according to the writings of Freud (2015), and from the point of view of language (Vaneigem, 2004; Allan and Burridge, 2006; Benke, 2012 Arango, 1991; Preti, 1983; Guiraud, 1976). Finally, we examine tabooisms from the standpoint of translation, in view of Antoine Berman’s (2007) work on the letter. The conclusion is that, in the translation into Portuguese, there was a certain erasure of the tabooisms, implying a softening of the text and an uncharacterization of the characters' way of expression. In contrast, in French, the tendency was to maintain the taboo lexicon and, in a certain way, to accentuate it; to intensify or make these lexical units more “dense”, “alive”, in order to depict their linguistic-discursive universe with greater “iconicity”.