Translation and the rise of inter-American literature /

The great writers of Spanish America and Brazil--Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Joachim Machado de Assis, Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Clarice Lispector, et al.--are known to English speakers because of dedicated, gifted translators too numerous to be cited here. Lowe (Univ. of Florida) and Fitz (Vanderbilt Univ.) single out Gregory Rabassa, and with good reason: his work spans five decades and includes major Spanish- and Portuguese-language literature, including an English rendering of Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. But this informed study is considerably more than a paean to Rabassa and others, for it calls much-needed attention to the cultural boundaries bridged by the translation of literature; put differently, the authors describe how English "voices" make for an inter-American literature. The 15-page conclusion should be required reading for everyone in the field of comparative literature, for it speaks to translation as interpretation and as creative transfer, and to the fact that good translators ought to be recognized for what they are: good writers. In addition to a solid bibliography of sources, the book includes an even more useful expanded bibliography of translations. Comparatists whose work embraces Latin American literature will need this book. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. R. M. Fedorchek emeritus, Fairfield University