The presence of French Literature in the translation Company of B. L. Garnier and its contribution to the configuration of the literary repertoire in Brazil (1870-1880)

Abstract

Baptiste-Louis Garnier, a French bookseller-publisher working in Rio de Janeiro in nineteenth century, contributed to shaping the space for literature in Brazil. This bookseller-publisher encouraged interactions between domestic Brazilian works and books sold abroad and offered the public local productions alongside translations, which were usually French in origin. Garnier was frequently hailed by journalists, critics and literati for his work as a publisher of domestic books and translations, which, regardless of their origin, participated in establishing literature in Brazil, according to statements made by men of letters. Consequently, it is important to consider the role of foreign works in the literature in circulation in Brazil during the nineteenth century and their impact on the establishment of letters in this country. This aspect has been ignored by Brazilian literary histories, which have limited themselves to appreciating foreign works and authors as "influences" in the backgrounds of Brazilian writers of the time. Nevertheless, Brazilian literature of the nineteenth century maintained a regular relationship with foreign production, which meant not only a source of dialogue for developing the literary discourse in nineteenth-century Brazil, but also an opportunity for professional activity for the writers and a contribution to the establishment of the literary repertoire of the country, whose makeup is not limited to the creations of Brazilian writers, but also included foreign works. This project aims at understanding the impact of French literature on the literature in circulation in Brazil through the study, in terms of origin, of the works that were then translated and published by Baptiste-Louis Garnier in the 1870s in Brazil.