TRANSLATING CANDOMBLÉ GASTRONOMY IN GABRIELA CLOVE AND CINNAMON

Abstract

This article aims to research certain aspects of the book Gabriela Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado and the incursions of the translation of the Bahian culture into the English language, in the Afro-Bahian cuisine of Candomblé. The methodology is based on the translation techniques categorized by Vinay and Darbelnet (1977). The method used in the translation of cultural-religious issues concerns the food of the gods, or deities of Candomblé, that guide such research in the two languages studied. The theoretical framework follows the guidelines of the untranslatability theory discussed by Ronai (1976), the cultural translation issues by Aubert (1994), the fidelity / infidelity translation presented by Arrojo (1993) and Silva (1994) with respect to the concepts of Candomblé and Umbanda, and Bastide (2001) about the cuisine of the gods. Considering the above assumptions, we analyze how Jorge Amado´s cultural world is represented for the English language readers. As for partial results, we highlight issues relating to cultural translation, such as the generalization of important aspects of Afro-Bahian religious gastronomy.