Translation in Progress: The Manuscript of “O Corvo” by Fernando Pessoa

Abstract

Among the large number of critical-comparative studies devoted to Fernando Pessoa's translation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem “The Raven,” the autograph manuscript draft of “O Corvo” has never been subject to in-depth critical genetic investigation. In the last two decades, the development of a research field dedicated to translation genetics provided the methodological bases and established the main objectives for the analysis of translated texts in a genetic approach. Considering the research purposes of genetic translation studies, in this article it will be shed light on the compositional process that led to the publication of Pessoa’s “O Corvo.” In this regard, the manuscript kept in Fernando Pessoa’s archive is to be deemed as privileged material for the study of the Portuguese poet’s translation practice, allowing us to observe the empirical application of Pessoa’s translation strategies and to give a new perspective to the critical interpretation of “O Corvo.”