The Influence of Contemporary Social and Political Factors on Portuguese Translations of Kipling’s Poem “If”: : A Tentative Chronology (1910-1960)*

Abstract

Written in 1895 and first published in 1910 in Kipling’s collection of stories, Rewards and Fairies, and that same year in The American Magazine, the continuing appeal of Kipling’s poem “If” is apparent from the countless framed copies which are hung in schools and other public places around the world and from the many different versions to be found on the internet. Remarkably, and despite the profound changes in attitudes and moral codes which have occurred since Edwardian times, Kipling’s sermon-like eulogy of the supposedly masculine virtues of stoicism, determination and leadership is still popular today, over a century later. It is also, unquestionably, one of the most-translated, adapted and parodied pieces of poetry in the history of literature. This article is a first attempt to reveal the translations which were made into Portuguese in the first half-century after its publication and to trace the political and social motives which inspired its translators and publishers.