Monteiro Lobato and translation: "Um país se faz com homens e livros"

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato in the growth of the book industry in Brazil, concentrating on his translations of children's literature. Lobato revolutionized the book industry in Brazil by introducing more commercial techniques and by marketing his books to social classes that were not used to buying books. Lobato also uses his translations to introduce critiques of Brazil in the 1930s, particularly the political and economic closure of the Estado Novo of Getúlio Vargas. Indeed, the criticisms voiced in Peter Pan resulted in Lobato's spending three months in jail in 1941.