Between continents: Agatha Christie’s translations as intercultural mediators

Abstract

Agatha Christie’s trajectory in the Brazilian literary polysystem serves as an illustration of how translated literature can demonstrate the complexity of intercultural mediation, with books and authors acting as agents that interconnect several cultures in a far-reaching and even unexpected web of relations. Three apparently simple aspects of the interaction in this case are introduced to the reader (the importation of Agatha Christie from England to Brazil, her exportation from Brazil to Portugal and, finally, the nuancing of her presence within Brazilian Portuguese language and culture). Specific examples of these aspects show how translated literature can provide insight into the dynamic interfaces between and within different cultures.