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Collection Overview

Title:
Albert Bensoussan Working Files on Latin American Writers
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/gm80hz20h
Dates:
1968-2017
Size:
5 boxes
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes B-000909 to B-000911, B-001204 to B-001205
Language:
Spanish; Castilian French

Abstract

Albert Bensoussan is a writer, translator, and professor emeritus of Spanish literature at the University of Haute-Bretagne in Rennes, France. This collection consists of correspondence to Bensoussan from various Latin American authors whose works he has translated. Also included are writings from Bensoussan and others, interview transcripts, typescripts, and collected articles and essays about Latin American authors.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

Consists of translator and writer Albert Bensoussan's working files related to Latin American authors, including Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, José Donoso, Jorge Edwards, Jorge Goldenberg, Mario Goloboff, Luis Mizón, Abel Posse, Manuel Puig, Néstor Sánchez, Severo Sarduy, Manuel Scorza, and Mario Vargas Llosa. Files consist of incoming professional and personal correspondence to Bensoussan from authors, theatre producers, critics, translators, and French publishing houses; writings by Bensoussan on Latin American authors, and translation; transcripts of interviews Bensoussan conducted; collected essays and articles related to the authors represented and Bensoussan; scripts and ephemera from theatrical productions of work translated by Bensoussan; and assorted clippings related to the authors.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged alphabetically by writer's last name. Correspondence and subject files were kept in original order.

Collection Creator Biography:

Bensoussan

Albert Bensoussan is a writer and a translator of Spanish language works.

He was born on August 4, 1935 in Algiers, Algeria, to Sephardic Jewish parents. He received a doctorate in Spanish studies in 1966 and a doctorate in humanities in 1978. He has taught at the Lycée Bugeaud d'Alger, the Sorbonne, and the University of Haute-Bretagne in Rennes, France, where he was professor emeritus of Spanish literature. He has also taught at the European College of Literary Translators.

Bensoussan has translated hundreds of Spanish language titles including Alfredo Bryce Echeniche's Un Mundo para Julius and Tantas veces Pedro, Guillermo Cabrera Infante's Tres Tristes Tigres, José Donoso's Este domingo, Mario Goloboff's Criador de palomas, and Néstor Sánchez's Nosotros dos and Cómico de la lengua. He has translated multiple titles for Manuel Puig, including El Beso de la mujer araña, Pubis angelical, Maldición eterna a quien lea estas páginas, Sangre de amor correspondido, Il bacio della donna ragno, and Misterio del ramo de rosas.

He maintains a close relationship with Mario Vargas Llosa and has translated numerous works of his, including Los Cachorros, Pantaleón y las visitadoras, La orgía perpetua, La tía Julia y el escribidor, La señorita de Tacna, Historia de Mayta, and La guerra del fin del mundo.

He is the author of a number of original works which include Confessions d'un traitre: essai sur la traduction (1995); Retour des caravelles: lettres latino-américaines d'aujourd'hui (1999); J'avoue que j'ai trahi: essai libre sur la traduction (2005); and Ce que je sais de Vargas Llosa (2011), among others.

He received the Cultura Latina Prize in 1985 and a médaille de vermeil from the Académie française in 2011 for his translation work, and is a founding member of l'Association des Traducteurs Littéraires de France. In 1964 he married Mathilde (Tubau) Bensoussan, a Catalonian translator who lived in France most of her life and also taught at the University of Rennes. They collaborated occasionally on translation and other writings. After her death, he remarried in 2013 to Françoise-Déborah Bensoussan-Meinnel, a former high school librarian and translator.

He currently lives in Rennes, France.

Collection History

Acquisition:

Purchase, 2017 (AM 2017-126) and 2018 (AM 2019-3).

This collection was purchased (in part) with funds provided by the Program in Latin American Studies (PLAS).

Appraisal

Non-unique, printed materials such as book and journal publications were removed from the collection during 2017 processing.

No materials were removed from the collection during 2018 processing beyond routine appraisal practices.

Processing Information

Collection was processed by Kathryn Antonelli in May 2017. Finding aid written by Kathryn Antonelli with the assistance of Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez in May 2017.

Additional materials were processed by Sara Rogers in July 2018. Finding aid updated by Sara Rogers.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Albert Bensoussan Working Files on Latin American Writers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/gm80hz20h
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
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Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes B-000909 to B-000911, B-001204 to B-001205