Book Club | Lygia Fagundes Th Telles | As Meninas |15 Sept, 6.30-9 Pm · Lygia Fagundes Telles (1923- )

Home , Hilda Hilst, Jorge Amado, Lygia Fagundes Telles

BOOK CLUB | LYGIA FAGUNDES TH TELLES | AS MENINAS |15 SEPT, 6.30-9 PM · LYGIA FAGUNDES TELLES (1923- )

As meninas (1973) translated into English as The Girl in the photograph (1982 & reprinted 2012)

Three girls liberated from traditional limits pursue all kinds of pursuits in the frenzied micro-universe of a huge metropolis.

How do the nuns of Our Lady of Fátima Nuns’ Boarding House approach their business of offering a safe lodge in a huge city?

Seduced by every kind of pleasure, the characters become slaves of their passions, obsessions and addictions! Some debauchery with a grotesque comic element mixed with contemporary political commentary.

One of the girls becomes besotted by a married man in a Brazilian soap- opera style…

Lygia Fagundes Telles’s use of language evokes the fragmented cacophony of the minds and souls of the characters.

Applying a stream of consciousness technique, self-absorbed chatter resembles some of 21st century social media chatter.

The original title As Meninas, literally, The Girls, oddly, was translated as The Girl in the Photograph…

DETAILS OF AVAILABLE PUBLICATIONS:

ENGLISH

The Girl in the Photograph translated by Margaret A. Neves, Dalkey Archive Press, 1982 (Avon Bard, N.Y.) and reprinted in 2012 - ISBN-10: 1564787842 ISBN-13: 978- 1564787842

PORTUGUESE

Various editions, e.g. ISBN 9788535914306

SHORT HISTORY OF THE BOOK AND TRANSLATIONS

As Meninas, the third novel by Lygia Fagundes Telles, was published in 1973 by the publisher José Olympio, and became an instant success and was awarded the most important literary prizes in Brazil: the Coelho Neto Prize of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, the Jabuti of the Brazilian Book Chamber (Câmara Brasileira do Livro) in 1973 and the ‘Fiction Prize ( ‘Ficção’) of the São Paulo Art Critics Association (APCA) in 1974. The book carries a dedication to

Paulo Emílio (Paulo Emílio Sales Gomes (1916-1977)).

Lygia Fagundes Telles had already gained acclaim for her first two novels Ciranda de Pedra (1954), a gripping tale and page-turner, and Verão no aquário (1963). Antes do baile verde, a set of eighteen short stories published in 1970 is generally regarded as one of the author’s masterly pieces.

Later the author, would say that her earlier works were not as relevant and that As Meninas ought to herald her career as an author.

The novel was originally translated in 1982 by Margaret A. (Abigail) Neves, who spawned a new title for the novel The Girl on the Photograph. The first translated was published by Avon Bard, New York. Margaret A. (Abigail) Neves has translated other authors, e.g. Jorge Amado, Antonio Torres, Moacyr Scliar and Edgard T. Ribeiro. There is scant information about this translation and one could venture and argue that Margaret A. Neves may even be a pen name. There are various mistranslated lexical items and also the translator takes the liberty with hoe she renders verbal tenses – in the opening paragraph of the novel past is changed into present tense. The author’s syntax is rather complex and rephrasing is frequent in the Neves’s translation, thus, losing the tempo and rhythm of the original text.

The translation was reprinted by Dalkey Archive Press (Champaign, Dublin, London) in 2012 with an added introduction by Earl E. Fitz, Professor of Portuguese, Spanish, and Comparative Literature Affiliated Faculty: Centre for Latin American Studies at the Vanderbilt University. Again, the advice for our book club members: it is better to skip introductions in either the original or translation as they represent a particular point of view at a particular point in time, and may include bias or idiosyncratic views. Simply read the novel and enjoy it. The editors of Dalkey Archive Press have annoyingly failed in reviewing the splitting of syllables at the end of the lines before reprinting, albeit having received funding from USA and Brazil for the reprinting of the translation.

As meninas was also translated into Spanish (Las Meninas) in 1973; French (Les pensionnaires) in 2005. The novel was adapted to theatre twice in 1988 and 1998. In 1996, the actor and filmmaker Emiliano Ribeiro (1948-2011) adapted the novel to cinema.

BIOGRAPHY

Lygia Fagundes Telles at the age of 90,

Lygia Fagundes Telles, née Lygia de Azevedo Fagundes, was born on 19th April 1923 in São Paulo, the state of São Paulo in Brazil. She spent most of her early childhood in the São Paulo countryside with her parents, Durval de Azevedo Fagundes, a law graduate, who worked as a public prosecutor and Maria do Rosário (Zazita), a pianist. Her family returned to the capital of the state, São Paulo, where she attended the Caetano de Campos Institute and went on to read law at the Largo de São Francisco Law Faculty, of the São Paulo University. There she met contemporary writers and participated in literary debates and, also, became a member of the Law Faculty Academy of Letters writing for the literary journal Arcádia and A Balança. She supported herself by working at the Department for Agriculture while she was attending her degree courses. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical education from the same university. From the early age of eight, Lygia Fagundes Telles, began to write and soon she would develop a great passion for craft. Her parents divorced in 1936. In 1938, with the support of her father, she published her first short story book Porão e sobrado signing Lygia Fagundes, a young successful teenage writer.

She married Goffredo da Silva Telles Jr., who had taught her at the law faculty, also a federal deputy and they moved to Rio de Janeiro, the federal capital at the time. She had one son, Goffredo da Silva Telles Neto in 1954. In 1960, she separated from her husband and, in 1962, resumed an earlier relationship with the historian and art critic Paulo Emílio Sales Gomes (1916- 1977), which generated much criticism in social circles of the time as she remained formally married. They lived happily together for 10 years. She would also gain early support and acclaim from the poet and writer Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902-1987) and the author Érico Verissimo (1905-1975), who became her friends. At the Law Faculty, she also met one of her long-standing friends, the author Hilda Hilst (1930-2004). The author remained employed from 1960s until retirement as a prosecutor at the Social Security Institute of the State of São Paulo. She also chaired the ‘Cinemateca Brasileira’, founded by Paulo Emílio Sales Gomes. She was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters on 24th October 1985, patron of the seat number 16. She is also a member of the State of São Paulo Academy of Letters since 1982 and a member of the Science Academy of Lisbon (Academia das Ciências de Lisboa) since 1987.

Her writing career took off with the publication of the short story collection Praia Viva in 1944.

In 1952, back in her home town, S. Paulo, she wrote her first novel Ciranda de Pedra, later adapted as a TV soap opera. Her second novel was published in 1963 O Verão no Aquário awarded the Jabuti Prize. In partnership with Paulo Emílio, she adapted Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis for the film director Paulo César Saraceni (1933-2012) under the title Capitu (1963).In 1970, she was awarded the International Grand Prix in France for her short story collection Antes do baile. In 1973, her novel As meninas won various accolades (see above). In 1977, the Brazil Pen Club awarded her a prize for the short story collection Seminário dos Ratos. Her short story collection Filhos Pródigos (1978) was republished under the title of her short A Estrutura da Bolha de Sabão (1991). Her A Disciplina do Amor (1980) was awarded another Jabuti Prize and the novel As Horas Nuas (1989) was awarded the Pedro Nava Best Book of the Year Award. More success would follow with A Noite Escura e Mais Eu (1995), awarded the Arthur Azevedo Prize of the Brazilian National Librar, the Jabuti APLUB Prizes. Invenção e Memória (2000) awarded the Jabuti, APCA and ‘Golfinho de Ouro’ Prizes followed by Durante Aquele Estranho Chá (2002), text that the authror describes as ‘lost and found’ appreared before her most recente Conspiração de Nuvens (2007), fiction and memory. In 2001, the Honoris Causa Doctorate was conferred upon her by the University of Brasília. In 2005, she received the prestigious Camões Prize.

Translations of her books were published in various countries: Portugal, France, United States, Germany, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Spain, Czech Republic abd adapted to TV, theatre and cinema.

Documentaries in Portuguese

(i) ‘Lygia Fagundes Telles - "Inventora de Memórias" (série Mestres da Literatura), 2012 – available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tni8to6Hng (ii) ‘A Literatura de Lygia Fagundes Telles - Uma Homenagem’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj3AOlailgo

Also see her profile on site of the Brazilian Academy of Letters – in Portuguese: http://www.academia.org.br/academicos/lygia-fagundes-telles

Attendance is free, but booking is essential: [email protected]