Unwinding the Sea: notes on H. D. Jennings's translation of 'O Marinheiro'

Abstract

H. D. Jennings–who taught at Durban High School after Fernando Pessoa had studied there – began an English translation of O Marinheiro, the drama that Pessoa published in 1915. Jennings was apparently unaware of the fact that the Portuguese writer had already started the same project; Pessoa, in fact, left loose evidence among the thousands of pages in his archive of an incomplete and fragmented English translation. This article analyzes the way in which Jennings's version changes some of the most crucial notions of the play: the title, certain grammatical constructions, and, in consequence, a series of concepts implied behind the storyline and its mise-en-scène.

Keywords

• Jennings, H. D. (Hubert Dudley)
• Static theater
• Teatro estático
• Pessoa, Fernando
• Marinheiro
• Veladoras