This year the Sub-Faculty of Portuguese held its thirteenth Brazil Week, an annual event that celebrates the diversity of Brazilian literature and culture, and brings together students and researchers into Brazil from across the University. This year we welcomed three special guests to Oxford to talk about their work: translator Sophie Lewis, actor Alfie Enoch and writer Trudruá Dorrico Macuxi.
The week opened with a Translation Workshop run by Sophie Lewis, experienced translator and editor, formerly an undergraduate at Wadham College. The workshop focused on the theme of what Sophie called the ‘Hunt for Closure’: “seeking all kinds of closure, from full stops, to narrative resolution, to wrapping up the edit and calling time on a job reasonably well done”. As well as generously giving us a glimpse into her methodology, she set us the challenge of translating two particularly tricky passages from Melo’s Mulheres empilhadas (Leya, 2019) – published in English by Indigo Press as The Simple Art of Killing a Woman (2024).
“Attending Sophie Lewis’ translation workshop on 3rd February gave me a great insight into the world of literary translation. This was a much-appreciated opportunity, since I find the sector of translation beyond the classroom to be somewhat opaque, especially for literary translation. Given my own love for the practice and interest in potentially pursuing it further, I am always thrilled when such opportunities arise.
Translating an extract from Patrícia Melo’s Mulheres Empilhadas proved no exception and it was particularly exciting to compare Lewis’ own initial and final drafts to see the development of a translation in action. We concluded the workshop with a fascinating discussion about translating the novel’s title, which proved to be a particular challenge here in terms of balancing the significance of the Portuguese and its idiomatic rendering in English. The workshop was a wonderful start to Brazil week!”
Emily Dicker (Y2, Portuguese and German, Queen’s College)
On Tuesday, four postgraduate students presented their research projects at the Postgraduate Research Round Table, expertly organised by Aggie Fanning (Merton) and Lingchen Huang (St Cross). The presenters, at different stages in their careers and from a variety of disciplines across the university, had ten minutes in which to explain their work. The topics were:
- ‘Investigating the Impacts of Brazilian Beef Farming on Forests and Pasture Using Remote Sensing’, by M.Biol. student Jonas Nohturfft
- ‘The Rise of Gender-Neutral Morphology in Portuguese: A Corpus Analysis’, by D.Phil candidate in Linguistics Miriam Eisenbruch
- ‘Macunaíma, Son of Exu: Reading Mytho-Religious and Racial Hybridity in the ‘A Macumba’ chapter of Mário de Andrade’s Macunaíma’, by MSc student Abayomi Folaranmi
- ‘A Mulher do Povo: The Feminist Journalism of Patrícia Galvão’, by D.Phil candidate Aggie Fanning.
Alfred Enoch, former student of Portuguese (at Queen’s College) and accomplished actor of stage and screen, returned to Oxford on Wednesday 5th February to talk about his role in the 2020 Brazilian film Medida Provisória [Executive Measure], directed by respected Afro-Brazilian actor and director Lázaro Ramos. In conversation with Gui Perdigão, Alfie shared his memories of growing up between Brazil and the UK, his thoughts about racism in Brazil, the UK and the US, and then moved on to talk about his experiences of working as an actor in those countries. He gave us his impressions of how the issue of race is dealt with in Brazilian cinema, not just from the perspective of a spectator (and, not so long ago, a student!), but also having starred in Medida Provisória, a film about racial discrimination which was written, directed, and produced by Afro-Brazilian artists. After the talk, there were plenty of questions from the students, particularly the ones taking the Paper XII in Brazilian Cinema.
On Thursday, we welcomed Trudruá Dorrico Macuxi, a writer and specialist in Indigenous literature and culture. Trudruá shared her beautiful, intricate poem ‘Ecossistema dos deuses’ [Ecosystem of the Gods], which she wrote during an artists’ residency in the Amazon last year, and talked us through the references to natural phenomena and indigenous customs.
“Brazil week was a great opportunity to see how a Portuguese degree can be applied beyond Oxford. I particularly enjoyed a translation workshop led by Sophie Lewis which showed us how the skills we learn in class can be applicable to a job in literary translation. Sophie was really engaging and it was so interesting to see the behind-the-scenes process of how a literary translation comes together. The talk by Alfred Enoch about his film 'Medida Provisória' also provided a fascinating insight into race in Brazilian cinema as well as the differences in working culture between Brazil and the UK. Finally, the visit from the indigenous writer Trudruá Dorrico Makuxi was definitely a highlight to end the week on as it was fascinating to hear about growing up in the Amazon and the ways in which she has increased the profile of indigenous literature.”
Rachael Fraser (Year 2, Portuguese and Spanish, Merton College)
“Getting to participate in the research in Brazil roundtable was a fantastic opportunity to learn about Brazil from very different disciplines to mine, making it an incredibly valuable experience for me both as a young researcher and as a Brazilian in diaspora. The talk with Alfred Enoch was my first opportunity to hear an actor talk about their work in person. It was also very interesting to compare another British-Brazilian person's experiences to my own, and to deepen my understanding of race in Brazil, an important issue that is increasingly being confronted and discussed in Brazil today. Trudruá Dorrico's talk about indigenous literature in Brazil was an illuminating chance to gain understanding and appreciation for the culture and experiences of a community in Brazil that is incredibly marginalised, including in literary contexts. As a STEM student, to whom such events are not normally targeted, I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to learn from such interesting people about such academically and personally enriching things.”
Jonas Nohturfft (Y4, MBiol, Brasenose)
The organisers are extremely grateful to all the speakers and presenters who took part in Brazil Week 2025, and the students and staff who assisted us, especially at the Taylorian Institute and the Cohen Quad. We are indebted to the Faculty of Modern Languages and St Peter’s College for supporting the event. Valeu!
The Organisers
Claire Williams, Gui Perdigão and Maria Luísa Coelho.