Darcy Ribeiro's anthropological specialized phraseological units: a study of the formation of a translational habitus based on corpora analysis

Abstract

Intending to investigate the translational linguistic behaviors in face of specialized phraseological units, this research analyzes a parallel corpus composed by the works O processo civilizatorio (1968) and O povo brasileiro (1995), both written by Darcy Ribeiro, as well as by their translations into English, performed, respectively, by Meggers (1968) and Rabassa (2000). With these purposes in mind, the study is based on the framework of Corpus-Based Translation Studies (BAKER, 1996, 2000; CAMARGO, 2007), of Corpus Linguistics (BERBER SARDINHA, 2004), of Terminology (BARROS, 2004; BEVILACQUA, 2004), and of Lexicology (CORPAS PASTOR, 2010). Concerning the analysis, the investigation considers concepts as social capital and habitus (BOURDIEU, 1980; SIMEONI, 1998, 2007; GOUANVIC, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2005), as well as the methodologies offered by the program WordSmith Tools. The results pointed to the nominalization of verbs, a factor that may change the comprehension of translated texts especially in relation to Brazilian universe, such as in: integrar as massas marginais a integration of marginal groups; and transfigurar as etnias originais a transformation of earlier ethnos. An intense use of normalization (BAKER, 1996, 1999) was also observed when the lexical units were related to cultural marked elements, for example: colher as rocas a to plant garden plots; and subjugar caudilhos a to subdue local leaders. Recurrence in using these features allowed the verification of a possible formulation of a translational habitus that can be associated to Translation Studies.