The return to Portugalparatranslating the space "in-between"" the local inhabitant and the "brasileiro" in the portuguese town of Fafe

Resum

Adjacent to a conception of a town as defined by forms or facts, we suggest an alternative version, that of understanding a town in terms of consciousness and experience. A town is not only experienced or regulated through architecture, urban planning, large social and economic frames, it is also formed by individual impressions, mental maps and spatial exercises. It is in the streets that we understand, test and explore the urban space, and with the advantage of photography we are able to acknowledge and disclose features of the town. Our aim in this study is not to draw attention but to show that the objects and symbols brought to Portugal by the Brazilian returnees between the 18th and early 20th centuries has been, throughout this time and up until the present, maintained as the solid base of the local urban, social and economic spheres as a result of translation processes. We concentrate on the public dialogue we find within the town"; what was built by “brasileiros” and why there is restraint in further development; does this collide with the aim to protect old buildings? Is there only one area considered as important in the town? We observe the parks, the squares, the streets, the extent of civic engagement in the town; do we notice a culture of entrepreneurs and the intention to innovate? We are analyzing objects and issues from a totally different era and are interpreting them in a new light, that of the present. The reason for and the origin of these objects and symbols are learned and translated against the present interpretation;" this interpretation is only rendered possible while paratranslation is involved since all information surrounding each issue is important for us to understand and translate it further in time. We explore the reasons why a particular type of architecture was developed in such a desolate and solitary place, how and why it was introduced and the way in which it expanded and totally dominated the urban and social space, and we also analyse the evolution of some families since early settlement in Brazil. Thanks to a number of experiments we have carried out we can confirm the importance of this historical past and that a town relies almost entirely on its “Brazilian” echoes and background in the present day. Our field of study is the Portuguese town of Fafe situated in Minho, where we will concentrate our research on the very particular architecture brought into Portugal by the Brazilian returnee who will from now on be referred to as “brasileiro de torna viagem” or “brasileiro”. The history which is revealed as we look at the architecture, the lay-out of the town and the abundant and detailed symbolism affects the overall atmosphere and mechanism of this space. We must clarify that we are not doing research in architecture, literature, anthropology or graphic arts but we are doing it from a (para)translational point of view as a paradigm that is used here to explain cultural exchanges and adaptations that take place through different media other than textual. In order to explain the connection between paratranslation and this project we will resort to Yuste Frías’ perspective concerning the way in which certain symbols are ‘seen’ and perceived which illustrates the concept of Paratranslation coined in Vigo in 2005.