The Invisibility of the Good Boy and the Infidelity of the Naughty Girl: Translator and Translation’s Literary Representations

Abstract

This article, taking the novel Travessuras da Menina Má (LLOSA, 2006) as a field for inquiry in terms of translation issues, is divided in two main moments. First Ricardito’s role, as the protagonist-translator, is discussed due to the contributions of his discourse for a major contemplation of the act of translation. Secondly, we test the development of the “naughty girl” as an incorporation of translation. The aim of this study is thus to identify if and how the main characters of the story may be thought through the lenses offered by Translation Studies. Theretofore, we make use of the analytical tools set forth by Venuti (1995) and Laranjeira (2003), among others. Our results demonstrate that, just like the “good boy”, Otilita chooses instability as a possibility of survival – as it happens to the original that allows itself to be translated, to live in a lie is, to some extent, better than to die in the truth. The conclusion whereto these characters’ analysis takes us is that what is essential for their constitution is the absence of an essence.