“No Blind Admirer of Byron”: Imperialist Rivalries and Activist Translation in Júlio Dinis’s Uma Família Inglesa

Abstract

This chapter examines the historical and political contexts for Júlio Dinis’s 1868 novel An English Family: Scenes from Life in Oporto and argues for the use of an activist approach and foreignizing techniques in translating this nineteenth-century Portuguese novel. The author addresses some strategies involved in translating the novel into English, arguing for an activist approach informed by foreignizing translation techniques. Such an approach, she argues, would help foster appreciation for both the novel’s contemporary relevance and its aesthetic value. In line with this approach, she considers issues such as servant speech, political metaphors, retention of the Portuguese language, and linguistic hybrids.