Mark Twain: The Making of an Icon through Translations of Huckleberry Finn in Brazil

This article aims at discussing seven translations into Brazilian Portuguese of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from 1934 (first translation) to 2019 (the latest translation published). To do so, paratexts of the translations are analyzed, such as notes, foreword, afterword, flaps and back panel, as well as other texts discussing the translation of the book in newspapers, reviews and interviews. The intention here is to show the pathway through which Huckleberry Finn was translated in Brazil and received by critics and the public and how the paratexts make the image of a Brazilian Mark Twain. The analysis will take into account the transnational approaches proposed by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, as well as the perspective Maria Sílvia Betti suggests for understanding how the Brazilian publishing market has shaped Mark Twain’s image created in Brazil