Translation and retranslation: the case of Triste fim de Policarpo Quaresma in English

This paper analyzes two English translations of the novel Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma (1911/1915) by Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto (1881-1922): one by Robert Scott-Buccleuch (The Patriot, 1978) and the other by Mark Carlyon (The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma, 2011/2014) from the perspective of retranslation (Berman, 2009; 2013; 2017; Koskinen; Paloposki, 2003; Gambier 1994) and translation criticism (Berman, 2009). The analysis focuses on how the translators dealt with questions of language and power, expressions of race and marks of orality, and marked expressions.  Selected excerpts are presented from the novel and the translations to reflect on the changing use of language over time. The results indicate that these translations do not follow the law of growing standardization (Toury, 2012; Collins; Ponz, 2018), nor do they confirm the retranslation hypothesis (Koskinen; Paloposki, 2003; Berman, 2017).