Translating Camões: a personal record

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Stedman's Narrative : its origins & transformations

Tese de Doutoramento em Estudos Ingleses e Americanos na especialidade de Estudos Americanos (Literatura Inglesa, século XVIII) apresentada à Universidade AbertaO tema desta tese de doutoramento é a obra Narrative of a five year’s expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America, from the year 1772 to 1777 de John Gabriel Stedman, publicada em Londres, em 1796, pelo editor radical Joseph Johnson. Levantam-se duas questões relacionadas com esta obra. A primeira refere-se à escrita do texto, à sua evolução mediante várias versões, e à sua extensa influência nas obras dos escritores ingleses, alemães, franceses e guyaneses que utilizam a história para usos próprios. A Narrative começou por ser o diário de Stedman durante os anos em que esteve no Suriname. Este diário tornou-se a base do manuscrito enviado para o editor em 1790 que foi, posteriormente, rescrito por um revisor e publicada como a Narrative autorizada em 1796. Entretanto, as origens deste texto importante podem ser traçadas através de duas versões prévias (nomeadamente o Journal publicado pela primeira vez em 1962, e a ‘Narrative’ de 1790, publicada pela primeira vez em 1988). William Blake foi o autor de pelo menos dezasseis das ilustrações presentes nesta edição e de poemas e gravuras que transformaram a história de Stedman. Após 1796, a história – especialmente o relato de Stedman do seu casamento com Joanna, uma escrava da plantação – tornou-se a base de várias peças de teatro, romances, poemas e panfletos em inglês, alemão, holandês e francês. A abordagem da história deste processo complexo interligar-se-á com o debate, que então decorria, sobre a abolição do comércio de escravos e da própria escravatura. A segunda questão responde ao desafio lançado por Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak no seu ensaio pós-colonial ?Can the Subaltern Speak?’ no qual a autora afirma não ser possível dar uma voz aos oprimidos¹. Na sua busca de idiomas apropriados para a Narrative, Stedman descreve os Maroons rebeldes (escravos foragidos) em termos heróicos e neo-clássicos, Joanna é uma heroína pastoral e o próprio autor descreve-se como um homem de sentimentos. Será que esta procura de conceitos literários é bem sucedida na descrição da escravatura no Suriname de então, ou será que apenas se limita a enquadrar os escravos num discurso patriarcal, europeu e colonial? Será que Joanna foi explorada igualmente por ‘both the phallus and the pen?’² Ou será que o problema reside na incapacidade do perito pós-colonial de ouvir? Esta questão abrange as metamorfoses da história de Stedman, os poemas e ilustrações de Blake e as peças de teatro, romances e poemas a que deu origem, incluindo alguns de minha autoria. Esta tese, tal como o seu título indica, pretende ser uma contribuição aos Estudos Ingleses e Americanos, na Especialidade de Estudos Americanos (Literatura Inglesa, século XVIII). Os Estudos Americanos constituem uma área multi-disciplinar. A Narrative de Stedman seguiram o modelo dos relatos publicados em Captain Cook’s Voyages e surge contextualizada no âmbito do crescente interesse pela Literatura de Viagens, nas suas dimensões literária, científica e imperial. Ao procurar um estilo adequado, Stedman adquiriu um conhecimento profundo da Literatura Inglesa do século XVIII, e os capítulos 3 e 6 desta tese assumem-se como uma contribuição para esta área de saber. Mas a Narrative está localizada no Suriname e, tal como os textos derivados de escritores europeus, representa uma tentativa de descrição de alguns aspectos da vida neste território sul-americano. Os ramos dos estudos literários envolvidos, portanto, entendem-se além da literatura inglesa e europeia dos séculos dezoito e dezanove para incluir estudos americanos e pós-coloniais com os seus componentes feministas. As pesquisas efectuadas abrangem também a história do comércio de escravos e a abolição do mesmo, em Inglaterra e na Europa, e a história e antropologia da escravatura no Suriname entre outros países. Finalmente, foi necessário trabalhar com textos holandeses, alemães (em tradução) e franceses, além de fontes inglesas e holandesas. Capítulo 2 apresenta o enquadramento histórico dos temas focados em Narrative. Em primeiro lugar, o Suriname e as revoltas dos Maroons que Stedman deveria esmagar, em segundo lugar, a Grã-Bretanha e a longa campanha para a abolição da escravatura. Capítulo 3 problematiza os géneros literários: o heróico, o pastoral e os sentimental tal como eram entendidos no final do século XVIII, recorrendo aos muitos exemplos da literatura dos século referido citados na ‘Narrative’ de 1790. Capítulo 4 analisa a escrita do Journal de Stedman (1962) para delinear o processo de criação em alturas e níveis diferentes, ao mesmo tempo que examina o primeiro relato de Stedman sobre a escravatura no Suriname e sobre a sua busca de meios de expressão apropriados. Capítulo 5 estuda a apresentação dos rebeldes Maroons, de Joanna e de Stedman em ‘Narrative’ de 1790 no âmbito dos conceitos de heróico, de pastoral e de sentimental. Capítulo 6 aborda o impacto que a obra de Stedman teve na pintura, na poesia e nas gravuras de William Blake. Tentaremos provar que Blake desempenhou um papel mais importante do que se reconhece em Narrative de 1796. Capítulo 7 analisa as alterações introduzidas pelo revisor na edição de Narrative de 1796. Apontaremos o argumento que os cortes levados a cabo pelo revisor, posteriormente corrigidos por Stedman com auxílio de Blake, não resultaram num texto inferior ao original. Capítulo 8 examina as variadas obras que surgiram no rasto de Narrative de 1796 desde as peças e romances de Frank Kratter, Thomas Morton, Anónimo, Lydia Child, Eugene Sue, Herman Ridder, Johan Hokstam, Beryl Gilroy, até os poemas de minha autoria sobre o tema. Capítulo 9 aborda a questão proposta anteriormente, a saber: Can the Subaltern Speak?. Apresentaremos o argumento seguinte:’Sim, podem, desde que não sejam silenciados pela crítica pós-colonial’. A tese contém quatro apêndices incluindo uma tradução das ‘Endechas a bárbara, escrava’ de Camões, o texto dos poemas referidos no capítulo 8, o relatório do Col Fourgeoud sobre a captura da arringa de Boni, e o texto de Stedman sobre ‘The Execution of the Breaking on the Rack’.The subject of this thesis is John Gabriel Stedman’s Narrative of a Five Year’s Expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam in Guiana (London, 1796). Two basic questions are raised about this text. The first concerns its making, as it evolves through previous versions, and its extensive influence in plays, novels, poems and pamphlets by English, German, Dutch, French and Guyanese authors. These include William Blake in whose poems and engravings Stedman’s story is creatively transformed. My second question takes up the challenge of Gayatri Spivak’s post-colonial essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ in which she effectively denies that the oppressed (the ‘subaltern’) can be given ‘a voice’. In his search for appropriate idioms, Stedman cast the rebel slaves in neo-classical heroic terms, Joanna his mulatto ‘wife’ as a pastoral heroine, and himself as a ‘man of sentiment’. What do these self-consciously literary idioms succeed in telling us about slave life in Surinam at the period? The question extends to the metamorphoses of Stedman’s story, in Blake’s poems and engravings, and in the various plays novels and poems it has generated, including some of my own. Two kinds of scientific enquiry are employed. The first involves a close reading of the evolution of Stedman’s Narrative, from his Journal to the 1790 manuscript and to the published text of 1796. Each stage involves significant changes in the idioms of representation. This textual scrutiny continues with the study of the works based on the Stedman story. The second enquiry is into the relationship of these texts to history, in particular to the contemporary debate over slavery and abolition. More recently, the context for interest in the Narrative has been the post war rise of nationalism throughout the former European empires, bringing Stedman’s work back into print as a valuable historical and anthropological source, and as the inspiration for further fiction and poetry

Air pollution exposure in different transport modes

In this Briefing Note, we summarise recent scientific evidence on air pollution exposure experienced by people travelling by different surface transport modes: including road, rail, and active travel (walking and cycling). We also consider which factors influence pollutant exposure within each mode and provide recommendations to mitigate against adverse health impacts

Medication supply for people evacuated during disasters.

© 2015 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.Medication loss is a major problem in disaster settings, and it is crucial for patients to bring their medication and healthcare items with them when they leave their homes during an evacuation. This article is based on a systematic literature review on medication loss, the objectives of which were to identify the extent and implications of medication loss, to identify the burden of prescription refill, and to make recommendations on effective preparedness. The review revealed that medication loss, prescription loss and refills, and the loss of medical aids are a significant burden on the medical relief teams. The medical aids are not limited to drugs, but include routine medications, medical/allergy records, devices for specific care and daily life, and emergency medications. One possible solution is to make a personal emergency pack and for people to carry this with them at all times. To ensure that patients are adequately prepared, stakeholders, especially health professionals, need to be actively involved in the preparation plans. Since our findings have little impact on disaster risk reduction unless shared broadly, we are now taking actions to spread our findings, such as presenting in conferences and via posters, in order to raise awareness among patients and healthcare professionals. As part of these activities, our findings were presented at the Evidence Aid Symposium on 20 September 2014, at Hyderabad, India

Disaster-driven evacuation and medication loss: a systematic literature review

AIM: The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify the extent and implications of medication loss and the burden of prescription refill on medical relief teams following extreme weather events and other natural hazards. METHOD: The search strategy followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Key health journal databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Maternity and Infant Care, and Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC)) were searched via the OvidSP search engine. Search terms were identified by consulting MeSH terms. The inclusion criteria comprised articles published from January 2003 to August 2013, written in English and containing an abstract. The exclusion criteria included abstracts for conferences or dissertations, book chapters and articles written in a language other than English. A total of 70 articles which fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in this systematic review. RESULTS: All relevant information was collated regarding medication loss, prescription loss and refills, and medical aids loss which indicated a significant burden on the medical relief teams. Data also showed the difficulty in filling prescriptions due to lack of information from the evacuees. People with chronic conditions are most at risk when their medication is not available. This systematic review also showed that medical aids such as eye glasses, hearing aids as well as dental treatment are a high necessity among evacuees. DISCUSSION: This systematic review revealed that a considerable number of patients lose their medication during evacuation, many lose essential medical aids such as insulin pens and many do not bring prescriptions with them when evacuated.. Since medication loss is partly a responsibility of evacuees, understanding the impact of medication loss may lead to raising awareness and better preparations among the patients and health care professionals. People who are not prepared could have worse outcomes and many risk dying when their medication is not available

Public health and climate change: How are local authorities preparing for the health impacts of our changing climate?

BACKGROUND: Local authorities have a crucial role in preparing for the impacts of climate change. However, the extent to which health impacts are being prioritized and acted on is not well understood. METHODS: We investigated the role of public health in adapting to climate change through: (i) a content analysis of local authority climate change adaptation strategies in South West England and (ii) semi-structured telephone interviews with local authority public health consultants and sustainability officers and a regional Public Health England representative (n = 11). RESULTS: Adaptation strategies/plans varied in existence and scope. Public health consultants did not have an explicit remit for climate change adaptation, although related action often aligned with public health's emergency planning functions. Key barriers to health-related adaptation were financial constraints, lack of leadership and limited public and professional awareness about health impacts. CONCLUSIONS: Local authorities in South West England have differing approaches to tackling health impacts of climate change, and the prominence of public health arguments for adaptation varies. Improved public health intelligence, concise communications, targeted support, visible local and national leadership and clarity on economic costs and benefits of adaptation would be useful for local authorities in preparing for the health impacts of climate change

Poets who weren’t Camões

"Insípidas mexerufadas": foi com palavras como estas que durante séculos se apreciaram as poesias dos contemporâneos de Camões. Neste contexto histórico incomum e extremo, a antologia Poetas que não eram Camões torna-se num manifesto pela diferença, porque aqueles contemporâneos pensavam, sentiam e escreviam de maneiras diferentes de Camões. Mas aqueles autores também escreveram belos poemas de amor, versos de exaltação heroica e crítica política, em géneros e formas - como o soneto, a canção, a ode e a epopeia - privilegiados por Camões. Ler os oito poetas em conjunto, num único livro, possui a vantagem inestimável de oferecer uma perspetiva privilegiada sobre o brilhantismo duma geração."Insipid pigswill": it was with words like these that the poems of Camões’s contemporaries were appreciated for centuries. In this unusual and extreme historical context, Poets Who Weren’t Camões becomes not only a poetic anthology but also a kind of manifesto, a manifesto for difference, since those contemporaries thought, felt and wrote in different ways from Camões. But those authors also wrote beautiful poems of love, verses of heroic exaltation and political criticism, in genres and forms - sonnets, hymns, odes, and epics - privileged by Camões. Reading these eight poets together in a single volume has the inestimable advantage of throwing into sharp perspective what a brilliant generation this was.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Environmental and Health Impacts of E-cycling - Policy Briefing Note produced by the TRANSITION Clean Air Network

Electrically assisted bicycles (e-bikes) can have an important role in enabling UK transport to achieve net zero, improve air quality, increase levels of physical activity and improve mental and physical health. This briefing note examines the current evidence on the environmental and health impacts of e-cycling, highlighting why the promotion of e-cycling should be a key component to address UK health, climate and clean air challenges. The TRANSITION Clean Air Network is a UK-wide network, led by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with nine universities and over 20 cross-sector partners, aiming to optimise the air quality and health outcomes of transport decarbonisation; it is funded by UKRI via the UK Clean Air Strategic Priorities Fund, administered by NERC [NE/V002449/1]

A randomized control trial evaluating fluorescent ink versus dark ink tattoos for breast radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this UK study was to evaluate interfraction reproducibility and body image score when using ultraviolet (UV) tattoos (not visible in ambient lighting) for external references during breast/chest wall radiotherapy and compare with conventional dark ink. METHODS: In this non-blinded, single-centre, parallel group, randomized control trial, patients were allocated to receive either conventional dark ink or UV ink tattoos using computer-generated random blocks. Participant assignment was not masked. Systematic (∑) and random (σ) setup errors were determined using electronic portal images. Body image questionnaires were completed at pre-treatment, 1 month and 6 months to determine the impact of tattoo type on body image. The primary end point was to determine that UV tattoo random error (σsetup) was no less accurate than with conventional dark ink tattoos, i.e. <2.8 mm. RESULTS: 46 patients were randomized to receive conventional dark or UV ink tattoos. 45 patients completed treatment (UV: n = 23, dark: n = 22). σsetup for the UV tattoo group was <2.8 mm in the u and v directions (p = 0.001 and p = 0.009, respectively). A larger proportion of patients reported improvement in body image score in the UV tattoo group compared with the dark ink group at 1 month [56% (13/23) vs 14% (3/22), respectively] and 6 months [52% (11/21) vs 38% (8/21), respectively]. CONCLUSION: UV tattoos were associated with interfraction setup reproducibility comparable with conventional dark ink. Patients reported a more favourable change in body image score up to 6 months following treatment. Advances in knowledge: This study is the first to evaluate UV tattoo external references in a randomized control trial