Xuan Bello, translator and author: his role in the development of the Asturian literature of “Surdimientu”

Abstract

Xuan Bello is one of the best-known Asturian authors in the Iberian Peninsula. His work as a poet developed in parallel with his work as a translator, especially of Portuguese and Galician, two languages that have influenced his own literary production in Asturian. His dual role as author and translator is inseparable from its cultural context, characterized above all by Surdimientu, the movement to recover the Asturian language and culture launched in 1974. Indeed, Asturian literature can be seen as an emerging literature, supported by a group of agents who take on various functions inside the literary system. The aim of this article is to analyse the relationship between Bello’s poetry and prose with: 1) The role played by the author within the framework of Surdimientu, 2) The role played by his translations, and 3) The impact of the translations of his works in prose on the Catalan literary system.