The translation of culture-specific items (CSIs) in a non-fiction book about Brazilian History / A tradução de itens culturais-específicos (ICEs) em um livro- reportagem sobre a História do Brasil

This paper presents a Master’s research on translation problems caused by culture-specific items (CSIs) from Brazilian Portuguese to American English. The theoretical basis was Hurtado Albir’s (2011) perspective of translation and Nord’s (2016) concept of function. The term “CSI” was created by Franco Aixelá (2013). The first step was identifying prospective CSIs in the book 1808 published in Brazil; then categorizing them; collecting their translations to English; and filtering them. The analysis consisted mainly of classifying the translation strategies used (FRANCO AIXELÁ, 2013): strategies of conservation (used 245 times) and strategies of substitution (113 times). The larger use of strategies of conservation may give the impression that the text does not present an accessible use of language to the North American reader; however, it was observed that strategies of conservation like linguistic (non-cultural) translation, intratextual gloss and orthographic


Introduction
This paper aims to present the main points of a thesis on the translation problems engendered by cultural-specific items (CSIs) from Brazilian Portuguese to American English. For that, the translation of CSIs in the non-fiction book '1808: the flight of the emperor -How a weak prince, a mad queen, and the British navy tricked Napoleon and changed the New World' 1 by Laurentino Gomes was analyzed.
The narrative intends to share with lay readers knowledge about the time when the Portuguese court came to Brazil. The author of the book states that one of his goals was "to make this piece of Brazilian history more accessible to readers who are interested in the events of the past" 2 (GOMES, 2007, p. 19-20).
For this purpose, we have based this study on Hurtado Albir's (2011) translation perspective, which suggests that a translator should consider the text genre, the target audience, and the translation purpose. The function, as presented by Christiane Nord (2016), was also relevant to the construction of this research. The function is what will be transmitted from the text 3 , and the purpose is the intention of the translation (HURTADO ALBIR, 2011). The understanding is that the function of the book 1808 is to present the story in an accessible way to a broad and lay audience, and that the purpose of the 1 Hereinafter referred to as 1808. 2 Translation made by this paper's translator. 3 According to Nord (2016), the function of a text is realized in the text reception. Thus, the function is mentioned based only on the idea related to the objective of a text and it is analyzed whether there is respect to the function in the translation based only on what appears to have accomplished the objective of the text or not. 182 translation is also that, but constructing the text for the American audience. In an interview for Revista Regional, Laurentino Gomes addresses the challenge of translating Brazilian history for American readers: "(...) The text needs to be more didactic and accessible than in the original because unfortunately people know very little about us abroad. (...) Therefore, this had to be taken into account when translating the book '1808', a work of excellence by linguist Andrew Nevins (...)" 4 (SCARAVELLI, 2013). Essentially, it is necessary to have the target audience of the translation in mind, and for that the profile of the American reader, immersed in a hegemonic culture, was also considered in the present analysis.
After this brief introduction on the function, purpose, and target audience for the book 1808, the text genre, which is a non-fiction book, will be addressed. According to Lima (1993), a non-fiction book aims to be more refined than conventional journalism, providing the content in a more profound and contextualized way for readers. And this is consistent with the intention shown by Gomes (2007) when he introduces his book.
As a translator's choices also depend on how specialized the text is, the degree of text specialization of the 1808 book was analyzed based on Ciapuscio (2003). After the analysis of four levels: functional (function of the text), situational (communicative situation), semantic content (content of the text and how it is being addressed) and formal-grammatical (style of the text depending on gender and its grammatical aspects, as verbal conjugation used), the analysis showed that the degree is low.
Each level has different aspects to be analyzed. The functional level, for instance, consists of four functions: express, about the author's way of expressing himself or herself; contact, about the contact maintained with the reader; inform, about how information is sent and received; and direct, about the attitude expected from the reader based on a given reading. Since the text can have more than one function, there are dominant, subsidiary, and complementary functions 5 . The non-fiction book 1808, as a journalism text, has the dominant function of informing and, for containing elements that direct the reader to be interested in the subject, the subsidiary function of directing.
In the next section, we present the concept of cultural-specific items (CSIs), which originated this analysis.

Cultural-Specific Items (CSIs) and translation strategies
In the aforementioned thesis, to justify the choice of the concept and the term CSIs, other approaches related to the study of words and expressions without precise corresponding items in the target language are also presented: palavras culturais or termos culturais 6 (NEWMARK, 2010); culturemas ("cultureme"), a term supposedly coined by Vermeer (1983), according to Xatara and Riva (2015); and marcadores culturais específicos (MCEs) 7 ( HERRERO RODES, 1999), which complement the research.
According to Franco Aixelá (2013), CSIs are those textually actualized items whose function and connotations in a source text involve a translation problem in their transference to a target text, whenever this problem is a product of the nonexistence of the referred item or of its different intertextual status in the cultural system of the readers of the target text. (FRANCO AIXELÁ, 1996, p. 58).
Thus, the term CSIs, by Franco Aixelá (2013), was chosen because words and expressions would be selected from what the context, or its value in American culture, would reveal about them. As an example of CSI present in 1808, we have the word "charque". Considering that in American cuisine there is no food with the same characteristics of production and consumption, the word "charque" can be taken as an example of a cultural-specific item 8 .
Franco Aixelá (2013) divides CSI into two groups: proper nouns and common expressions, which were named "for the lack of a better term to cover the world of objects, institutions, habits and opinions restricted to each culture and that cannot be included in the field of proper nouns" 9 (FRANCO AIXELÁ, 2013, p. 194). The author also points out two types of proper nouns based on Theo Hermans (1988): the conventional names and the loaded names. The first type refers to names that do not have any meaning in themselves, and the second to names and nicknames with suggestive or expressive meaning, whether fictional or not (FRANCO AIXELÁ, 2013). "João" is an example of a conventional proper name, and "Frei Caneca" is an example of a loaded proper name, as there is a meaning involved in this nickname (explained later in this paper).
In addition to presenting the CSIs, the author refers to different strategies used to solve the translation problems encountered, which he calls strategies of conservation and strategies of substitution. These strategies will be presented as follows; however, before that, since the strategies 6 Palavras culturais and termos culturais are translations found in Bertoldi (2016), they mean, respectively, "cultural words" and "cultural terms". 7 Marcadores culturais específicos is a translation used in the mentioned thesis, it means "specific cultural markers". 8 To further contribute to this discussion, see xxx (2017). 9 Translation made by this paper's translator, based on Kharina (2018). aim to solve translation problems 10 , it is important to raise one of the topics mentioned by Waquil (2017, p. 78), which is delimiting this term: "represent obstacles to the performance of a translation task 11 " 12 . In the example mentioned above, the word "charque" can be seen as a translation problem, since in North American culture there is no corresponding item that contains the same value as our "charque" with the same characteristics (method of preparation, history in Brazilian culture, time and ways of consumption, etc.).
Below we present the strategies with examples extracted from the research corpus and the techniques that were associated with each one of them.

Strategies of conservation
For Franco Aixelá (2013), strategies of conservation are those in which the translator makes choices closer to the source language. They can be of several types: repetition, orthographic adaptation, linguistic (non-cultural) translation, extratextual explanation, and intratextual explanation.

•
Repetition: the CSI is repeated or reproduced with minimal changes. Corresponding technique: pure borrowing. For Hurtado Albir (2011) there are two types of borrowing, pure (the word is kept unchanged) and naturalized (the word is transliterated). As the CSI is the same in the translation, we consider that the strategy used is repetition, as well as the borrowing technique (pure borrowing, in this case). 10 This statement is substantiated by Waquil (2017), which is based on Hurtado Albir (2013), Grupo PACTE (2011), Lörscher (1991) and Chesterman (1997). 11 Translation made by this paper's translator. 12 The notion of "problem" still needs further stability in translational studies. The work of Waquil (2017) is recommended for further discussion on the issue. 13 For the names in Portuguese of the techniques provided by Hurtado Albir (2011), the present study was based on the work of Waquil (2013).
Corresponding technique: naturalized borrowing. As the CSI were changed consistently with the writing system of the target language, we consider that the strategy used was the orthographic adaptation, as well as the borrowing technique (naturalized borrowing, in this case).
• Linguistic (non-cultural) translation: the CSI is translated as "a denotative reference very close to the original" 14 (FRANCO AIXELÁ, 2013, p. 197). It can be a word or phrase already used in the target country or created based on CSI transparency. "Carrying a load of cashews (...)" (GOMES, 2013, p. 60). Source: prepared by the authors (2020).
Corresponding technique: calque. "Cashews" is a word that already exists in the target language, which is considered as denotative reference next to the word "caju" 15 . Likewise, "cashews" is considered a calque.

•
Extratextual explanation and intratextual explanation: these strategies were addressed in the same topic in order to discuss a few aspects. According to Franco Aixelá (2013), the extratextual explanation is when one of the previous strategies occurs and some explanatory element is added that is not part of the main text. The author provides the following examples: "Footnote, endnote, glossary, comment/translation in parentheses, in italics, etc." 16 ( FRANCO AIXELÁ, 2013, p. 198). The mention of comment/translation in parentheses and italics was not considered clear, as these elements are part of the text body.
Despite the lack of clarity, we believe that this strategy occurs only outside the text based on some indications: the name of the strategy; the fact that Franco Aixelá (2013) mentioned a case of a translator's note in the work he uses as subject of study in his paper, and the fact that Menegotto (2016) explained the strategy in this way. As for the intratextual explanation -explanatory elements contained only to cases that make the CSI more explicit, such as adding "hotel" in front of the name of a hotel. She likes to drink chimarrão. In a footnote, the translator would explain "chimarrão": "Hot beverage typical of Rio Grande do Sul" 18 .
Corresponding technique: both strategies correspond to amplification. Hurtado Albir (2011) does not make this distinction, both explanatory elements inside and outside the text are part of the amplification technique.

Strategies of substitution
For Franco Aixelá (2013), strategies of substitution are those in which the translator makes choices closer to the target language. They can be of several types: synonyms, limited universalization, absolute universalization, naturalization, deletion, and autonomous creation.
• Synonyms: according to Franco Aixelá (2013, p. 199), "some kind of synonym or parallel reference" 19 is used. There is no corresponding technique. Among the techniques proposed by Hurtado Albir (2011), there is no technique that would be correspondent to the synonym strategy. The example was 17 As we could not find extratextual explanation in 1808 , an example was created. 18 Bebida quente típica do Rio Grande do Sul. 19 Translation made by this paper's translator. 20 Paço Real. Plaza (praça) and Palace were considered synonymous because they located the reader at a very similar point of reference. considered a parallel reference (assuming that the translator used it to be more economical) and, therefore, the synonym strategy.

•
Limited universalization: the CSI is replaced by another CSI of the source language, but less specific and considered more familiar to the translation audience. Table 6: Example of limited universalization -"pernambucanas" to "in Pernambuco". "cidades pernambucanas" (GOMES, 2007, p. 285).
Corresponding technique: generalization. "Pernambuco" is a CSI of the source language, but we believe that it is more likely that the North American reader will be able to understand Pernambuco than "pernambucanas". A more general CSI was used, so it is also possible to classify it as the generalization technique. For this technique, Hurtado Albir (2011) does not distinguish between generalizations that are more or less close to the target language, as Franco Aixelá (2013) does.

•
Absolute universalization: the CSI is replaced with a less specific word/expression; this time, there is no connection with the source language.  Corresponding technique: just like with limited universalization, it corresponds to generalization.
"Brazilian" is more general than "gaucho"; there is no connection with the source language because it is not exactly something that is specific to the Brazilian culture, but of the adjective that refers to Brazil.
• Naturalization: the CSI is replaced with a CSI from the target culture. Corresponding technique: adaptation. Cachaça is not the same as rum. This is a Brazilian CSI that has been replaced by a CSI from the target culture 21 . This change can be classified as a naturalization strategy, as well as an adaptation technique.

•
Deletion: CSI is eliminated in the translation. the difference is that elision consists of erasing informative elements related to the CSI. As the CSI "Praça 15 de Novembro" was deleted in the translation, we consider the translator used the deletion strategy.
• Autonomous creation: there is the insertion of a reference that does not exist in the original text, which can sometimes be unusual. The following example was considered as a repetition combined with autonomous creation.  Corresponding technique: discursive creation can be a corresponding technique, but it is not the case in the following example. Hurtado Albir (2011, p. 270) explains the discursive creation in an extreme way: "An ephemeral equivalence that is totally unpredictable and taken out of context" 22 . Thus, it is believed that every discursive creation can be an autonomous creation, but not every autonomous creation can be a discursive creation. In the example, an autonomous creation strategy (with repetition) is considered, as the translator created it. He used the word "matches" with a different meaning from "wrestlers" (lutadores), but the choice is not unpredictable outside the context. 21 To further contribute to the discussion, see xxx (2017)

189
There are also three strategies that were not further investigated by Franco Aixelá (2013) and that were also not used in this work: compensation, displacement, and attenuation. Finally, we add that according to Franco Aixelá (2013), the translator can combine strategies in order to translate a CSI.

Methodology
In this topic, the methodological steps that conducted the analysis of the translation of CSIs in the book 1808 are presented. Initially, CSI candidates were collected in the twenty-nine book chapters for two reasons: the lack of uniformity in the division of candidates between chapters and the fact that sometimes a candidate that occurs more than once has different translations. Each word/expression that seemed to fit Franco Aixelá's definition of a CSI (2013) was manually highlighted because, considering the low degree of specialization of the book and the low terminological nature of the candidates, we believed that this would be the most productive selection criteria in the thesis.
In order to verify if there were any pattern in the distribution of CSI candidates, Espindola's proposal (2005) was followed, which establishes twelve categories: 1) place names; 2) anthroponyms; 3) forms of entertainment; 4) means of transport; 5) fictional characters; 6) Brazilian legal system; 7) local institutions; 8) measurement system; 9) food and drink; 10) educational system; 11) religious celebrations; and 12) dialect 23 . The proposal was also compared to the categories mentioned by Franco Aixelá (2013) to complement the categorization process: After verifying the common factors between the two sets of categories and which categories could still be added, it was necessary to select only those that matched the candidates and, if possible, expand their content and create others -all for the final set of categories to specifically cover the subject 23 Names of the categories by this paper's translator. 24 Translation of the table made by this paper's translator. of study. This process led to a final set of sixteen cultural categories: 1) place names; 2) anthroponyms; 3) forms of entertainment; 4) currency; 5) legal and administrative system; 6) locations; 7) measurement system; 8) food and drink; 9) habits; 10) objects; 11) expressions; 12) gentiles; 13) means of written communication; 14) historical event; 15) occupations/ethnicities; and 16) languages.
With a table with candidates in Portuguese (separated by chapters in the lines and categories in the columns), the same was done for their translations. The tables were decontextualized so that it was possible to have only an initial view of the candidates and their corresponding items. Finally, two types of filtering were performed: the selection of what was considered to be a CSI and, among these, the selection of the CSIs to be analyzed. The translations of candidates often revealed relevant characteristics for filtering: the fact that "quilombos" was translated into "Quilombos (marron settlements)" (GOMES, 2013, p. 166) in its first occurrence, showing that, despite of having a corresponding item in English, the author decided to keep the word in Portuguese. Searching dictionaries and the Internet was also instrumental in confirming whether some candidates were CSIs or not. The second filtering, selecting CSIs from all the CSIs found in the book, is due to the decision to dedicate more space to more productive cases for this research and to eliminate others. All methodology data were stored in the Word tool.

Analysis
In order to classify the CSIs found, whenever possible, even if the translations could involve more than one strategy, only the one that seemed to be predominant was chosen. For example: in the translation of "Revolta dos Alfaiates" to "1798 Tailors' Revolt" there are at least two strategies, linguistic (non-cultural) translation and intratextual explanation; the second was chosen because the addition of a new explanatory element, the date, draws more attention than the English translation. For this paper, four categories were selected from the sixteen analyzed, and a CSI from each of the four. Although the following cases do not present a wide variety of strategies, they were selected because they have characteristics worth mentioning in the research. discontent still floated in the air" (p. 59).
"In the so-called Tailors' Conspiracy, which took place in Salvador in the middle of 1798, the rebels promulgated manifestos in public places (…)" (p. 82).
It was possible to classify "1798 Tailors' Revolt" as an intratextual explanation, as "1798" is considered an explanatory element. The CSI occurs twice more in the book, and the language translation strategy ("Tailors' Conspiracy") was used. As the book is aimed at lay readers, it is believed that standardizing this name would avoid the cognitive effort for the reader to understand that it is the same corresponding item, that is, choose only "Tailors 'Revolt" or only "Tailors' Conspiracy" for all occurrences . "Nas surras, usava-se a palmatória ou o bacalhau, chicote de cabo curto, de ouro ou madeira com cinco pontas de couro retorcido" (p. 250).

Objects
"Thrashings made use of a paddle or a 'codfish,' a whip with a short handle of gold or wood and five points of twisted leather" (p. 178).

Linguistic translation (non-cultural)
Source: xxx, 2017. This case illustrates the importance of context in identifying a CSI. Out of context, the word could easily refer to fish. The translation here was important for filtering what could be considered a CSI: no meaning was found for "codfish" 25 , neither in the New Oxford American dictionary nor in the Merriamwebster, which referred to the instrument of torture; but in the digital Aulete, this meaning was found for "bacalhau". Brother Mug's father worked with the manufacture of wooden barrels and tanks, which were typically called mugs at the time. The nickname "Frei Caneca" comes from a change that the Brother made to his name to honor his father, known as the man with the mugs, or Domingos Caneca ( TERRA, 2001). The nickname was considered a loaded first name, as it contains a meaning, and the translation "Brother Mug" was considered valid. Another reason for agreeing with the translation is the fact that it was found in another text, in English: DeGoes (2015), at times, adds "Brother Mug" beside the Portuguese nickname. The CSI occurs again in book 1808, and linguistic translation has also been employed.
The section in which the item appears has been deleted (p. 81).
"This number included English periodicals, such as the venerable Times, as well as a plethora of foreign language newspapers, published there to evade censorship and persecution in their countries of origin, as was the case of the Correio Braziliense" (p. 146).
• "Correio Braziliense" occurs eight more times, and "Correio" twice. In all of them, the repetition strategy was used. As the context, also in the original text, clarifies the item, it is believed that this repetition does not negatively affect the reader's understanding.
• It is possible to see the difference between deletion, Franco Aixelá's strategy (2013), and elision, technique proposed by Hurtado Albir (2011): when an item is deleted, this corresponds to deletion, and when explanatory elements linked to the item are deleted. ("brasileiro" and "by Hipólito da Costa"), this corresponds to elision. As these explanatory elements also occur at another time and are preserved, this elision was not considered detrimental to the didactic nature of the book.
• As for the deletion of the item, we could not see any reasons for the deletion of the section.
After the survey and analysis of the CSIs, the following results were obtained (XXX, 2017): strategies of conservation were used 245 times, and strategies of substitution, 113 times. There is a table of the most used to the least used strategies as follows: Two cases were also classified as techniques by Hurtado Albir (2011): an elision and a description (this occurs when the word/expression is exchanged for its description). There were no cases of extratextual explanation. We agree with this choice, since the book already contains numerous notes regarding the sources consulted by the author. A greater number of strategies of conservation may give the impression that the translation is not accessible, but we believe, based on the analysis, that linguistic translation, intratextual explanation and orthographic adaptation can contribute to an accessible translation. In addition, repetition often occurs in contexts that, as in the original text, provide information about the item.
As a non-fiction book on Brazilian history, the result is considered satisfactory, taking into account the use of strategies of conservation and the assumption that they, in general, do not diminish the didactic nature of the work. We believed, therefore, that the translation of the book 1808 into American English fulfills its purpose, respects the function of the book and the characteristics of the textual genre, in addition to being accessible to the American public. 26 Translation of the table made by this paper's translator.
The function of the book 1808 is to present this chapter of Brazilian history in a way that is accessible to a lay audience. Based on the data collected, we believe that there is a balance in the translator's choices: strategies of conservation are used to a great extent, but it is a text about Brazilian history and it would be incoherent to "Americanize" the text too much. In addition, the idea that strategies of conservation contribute to a less accessible text may be misleading. For example, the orthographic adaptation "baiano/Bahian" seems to help the American readers to situate themselves in the Brazilian culture or, at least, it does not hinder their understanding more than using a repetition (keeping the word "baiano"). It should also be added that the book 1808 is written in accessible language in Portuguese, and we assume that the translator did not disregard this when translating the CSIs; on the contrary, in general, when necessary, he possibly brought the American reader closer to the text by using strategies of substitution or strategies of conservation that were most useful for the reader's understanding.
The target audience of the book 1808 is the American reader and, as Laurentino Gomes said in an interview mentioned earlier, it is necessary to consider the lack of knowledge that this audience in general has of the Brazilian history and culture. The translator seems to have paid attention to this fact when translating the CSIs; especially when he chooses to use references that bring the reader closer to the text, and that are typical of the American culture or closer to it, as in the naturalization of "cachaça" to "rum", for instance. So the question "for whom are you translating?" was not neglected during the translation process, as the translation of the CSIs contemplates this.
The textual genre of the book 1808 is a non-fiction book written by a reporter. As seen before, this genre aims to develop more detailed research than conventional journalism. According to Ciapuscio's parameters (2003), book 1808 is considered to have a low degree of text specialization.
The translation of the CSIs proved to be compatible with this proposal, since no more technical or academic terms were used that would be inappropriate to present the story to a wide and lay audience.
We believe that it is necessary to prioritize the reader's understanding when translating a text, after all, a text is written to be read and understood by other people. Therefore, it is useless to write a text with academic language if it is aimed at lay readers on the subject. If there is no concern in understanding the purpose of the text and the translation, who the reader is and what type of language needs to be used for communication to flow, there is a risk of confusing the reader or of them losing interest in the text. For the translation of 1808 , specifically in relation to the CSIs, the analysis indicates that these factors were taken into consideration.

Final remarks
In this paper, we have presented the main results of a thesis about the translation problems generated by CSIs from Brazilian Portuguese to American English. The subject of study used for this thesis was the non-fiction book 1808 . Thus, the research contemplates the analysis of the translation of CSIs present in this book. For this purpose, it was necessary to adhere to a translation perspective, where we chose Hurtado Albir (2011), who advocates translators must have respect for the textual genre, target audience and the purpose of the translation. The book 1808 is a non-fiction book written by a reporter with a low degree of text specialization, and the purpose of its translation, we believe, is to provide an accessible text to the Americans. The function of the translation was also considered, in accordance with Nord's principles (2016), that in the book is to direct its content to lay readers.
A word/expression can be understood as CSI -Franco Aixelá's term (2013) -only from the context in which it is integrated to and the language pair involved. This concept was adopted in the referred search, as well as Franco Aixelá's translation strategies (2013) for the later classification of the observed translation choices. The techniques proposed by Hurtado Albir (2011) were used to complement this classification. The methodology chosen, and presented above, met the needs of the research and enabled the collection to cover all CSIs. In this brief study, a synthesized analysis was presented with only four items. However, in the thesis, it was found that strategies of conservation were employed 245 times and strategies of substitution, 113 times, which does not mean that the translation is not accessible, since it is assumed that the didactic nature of the book remains. One case was also classified as an elision and one as a description, which are techniques introduced by Hurtado Albir (2011).
The separation between strategies of conservation and strategies of substitution proposed by Franco Aixelá (2013) had an essential role in the organization of the analysis and in the discussion of the results. This separation helped to better visualize which types of translation have a character that indicates a closer relationship with the readers, and which seem to have less. Moreover, even within these two groups, there are different degrees of approximation depending on the strategy.
Finally, we believe that the translation of the book 1808 is adequate when analyzed from Hurtado Albir's (2011) translation perspective. It is not possible to compile in this paper all the work contemplated on the thesis, where several items are analyzed and divided into sixteen cultural categories. Therefore, here, our main objective was to provide an overview of the work developed in detail in the thesis to those looking to have a better understanding of the concept of CSIs. For this reason, for those who want to know more about the research done, we invite you to read the thesis.
With this work, we hope to have contributed to disseminating knowledge on the translation of CSIs, both in academic and professional circles, and to encourage other researches on the subject, such as the creation of bilingual glossaries, support materials for translators, works that explore other textual genres etc. In addition, we would like to encourage the appreciation of the translators' work, which is not just about being fluent in the language, but also having technical knowledge and paying attention to a series of factors relevant to the effective communication of the text.