The Spectre of Hamlet in the Brazilian Translations of James Joyce’s Ulysses

Abstract

William Shakespeare (1565-1616) is a noteworthy presence in works by James Joyce (1882-1941). Joyce’s Ulysses contains a number of passages that allude to the bard’s plays. Unlike the Homeric parallel, the Shakespearean references are scattered through the novel in form of allusions and echoes. In view of this, Laura Pelaschiar (2016) points out that “the job of the Joyce/Shakespeare explorer is a trying one because Shakespeare’s presence in Joyce is hard to unearth and assess” (58). The spectre of Hamlet arises in the novel in multiple ways and evokes crucial themes of the novel, such as the paternity matter and the relation between art and biographical life. In virtue of such intertextuality, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the presence of Hamlet in the Brazilian translations of James Joyce’s Ulysses by Antônio Houaiss (Civilização Brasileira, 1966), Bernardina da Silveira Pinheiro (Objetiva, 2005) and Caetano Galindo (Penguin/Companhia das Letras, 2012). This study comprises larger research that investigates how translators dealt with the Hamletian references in Joyce’s novel.