‘¿Cómo no meter la pata en literatura?’: Untangling Authorship and Translation in España negra (1899) by Darío de Regoyos

Abstract

In 1899, Spanish painter Darío de Regoyos published España negra, a travel book inspired by the journey around Spain that he had made with Belgian poet Émile Verhaeren in 1888. The book comprises fragments of Verhaeren’s ‘Impressions d’artiste’ (1888) [Artist’s Impressions] - a series of articles the poet wrote about his experiences in Spain - that Regoyos translated from French to Spanish and published, together with his own prose and illustrations under the evocative title España negra. This article examines the results and idiosyncrasies of Regoyos’s translation and how the hermeneutic and contemplative processes of translating allowed the painter to assert his authorship in España negra. As he translated, corrected and betrayed ‘Impressions d’artiste’ throughout España negra, Regoyos recast Verhaeren’s melancholy portrait of Spain as a critical reflection on the stereotypes and realities then shaping the nation.