My name is Alaina Brandt, and I am a Spanish to English translator and researcher. The focus of this project is the political discourse of late Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. I worked with four speeches delivered by Chávez during his presidency, and the research that supports the translations of these speeches explores such topics as political discourse in translation, narrative, transcription, and domestication vs. foreignization, along with Venezuelan politics, government, history and culture. This project began as my Master’s Thesis, titled “Translating Chávez: Telling Stories of the Storyteller,” and this blog serves as a translator’s journal cataloging the research and decision-making necessary to prepare my translations for publication.
I am an Assistant Professor of Translation and Localization Management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. I have a Master of Arts in Language, Literature & Translation, specializing in Spanish to English translation, from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. I currently reside in Monterey, California, USA.