Translating the Brazilian Amazon of the mid-19th century: landscapes and individuals in Gaetano Osculati’s (1808-1894) narrative between admiration and criticism

Abstract

Gaetano Osculati (1808-1894) was likely the first of Italian navigators to traverse the Amazon in the 19th century. Following this travel experience, he published Esplorazione delle regioni equatoriali – lungo il Napo ed il Fiume delle Amazzoni. Frammento di un viaggio fatto nelle due Americhe negli anni 1846, 47, 48 [Exploration of the equatorial regions – along the Napo and Amazon River. Fragment of a journey made in the two Americas in the years 1846, 47, 48] (1850). The objective of this study is to present an annotated translation of chapters XX (final part) and XXI of the mentioned work. Initially, the context of the journey, the author’s biography, and to some extent, the expectations and preconceived ideas of europeans regarding the so-called New World (Holanda, 2000) are presented, followed by some notes on the translation work. It is considered that in Osculati’s narrative, edenic images, records of personal opinions, and knowledge of the science of the time are interwoven, elements that were fundamental for the realization of the translation, understood here under the principle of negotiation (Eco, 2000).