Patrono da amizade: as traduções de obras brasileiras da Alfred A. Knopf em meados do século XX

Abstract

The 1940s and 1960s were important years for the history of Brazilian literature translated into English. The number of translations from Portuguese into English grew, and interest in translations from Brazil also increased. In the 1940s, the world witnessed the tragic consequences of the Second War. The United States and Brazil carried out business together, but Vargas only stated his support for the USA in 1942. Diplomatic projects created at the time included translation programs for Latin American works, which indirectly led to the dissemination of Gilberto Freyre’s ideas of “racial democracy”. In the 1960s, the visibility created by the Cuban Revolution led to new translation programs for Latin America, which resulted in Jorge Amado becoming a bestselling author in the US. This article shows the role of the publisher Alfred A. Knopf as an informal “ambassador” in the process described above.