"Conheço cada palavra que rima com Burr": Hamilton e desafios da tradução de teatro musical

Abstract

This dissertation consists of a translation of the first act of the contemporary musical stage play Hamilton: an American musical, by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Because the translation of songs, in general, and of musical theater, in specific, are themes sparsely encountered in the Translation Studies, a diverse array of theoretical material will be used. Reputable names from the field of research on translation, such as Antoine Berman (1985), Lawrence Venuti (1995), Umberto Eco (2000), Eugene Nida (1964), as well as the Brazilians Haroldo de Campos (1969/2011) and Paulo H. Britto (1999/2002/2006/2012) will be referred to, with the addition of lesser-known thinkers who are centered specifically on the translation of songs or musical theater such as Johan Franzon (2005), Peter Low (2005), Mark Herman and Ronnie Apter (2008/2016). Based on the discussions, it will be demonstrated how musical translation approaches certain recurring themes of the translation studies, such as compensation. Due to the challenges inherent to the genre, such as the obligation to preserve the number of accents in each verse, one can clearly notice diversions that musical translation presents from the theories normally defended by translation theorists such as, for example, the musical translator’s preference for domestication. Using the original translation of Hamilton as a study object, the specificities of this so rarely examined branch of translation will be discussed.