Abstract
This work aims the dialogue between History, Anthropology and Translation Studies, focusing on Cultural Translation. It is based on the accounts left by the French chronicler and traveller La Condamine, who expeditioned the Amazon at the end of the first half of the 18th century, publishing his records on his return to the European continent. We use discussions, through which it is possible to glimpse in the accounts indications of the use of cultural translation, in its different instances. After a brief introduction, we present a theoretical-epistemological and historical contextualization concerning the work of the French scientist and his scientific figure. We use also Cultural translation concepts in order to prepare the reader for the next topic, which shows examples of cultural translation in the texts of La Condamine in various manifestations, whether idiomatic, linguistic or ethnocentric. The proposed approach and the discussions carried out allow us to think of different ways of reading the historical records of travellers, highlighting their potential for analysis in the fields of cultural and translation studies, among which those of La Condamine are rich examples of contact with the “other”.
Keywords
Amazon; Cultural Translation; Travel Literature; La Condamine