ABSTRACT
Etymology entails a particular brand of wisdom, a wisdom that produces, and activates, meaning(s) that may lie dormant under the many layers of significance words acquire in and through time. In this case, however, etymology inherently translates the very nature of the present chapter, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the reflection I propose here is but a part of a larger ongoing project that focuses on Mário Domingues (1899-1977), a polymorphous intellectual, who has been all but forgotten in the course of the last fifty years. While I contend that the impact Domingues has had on the fabric of literary imagination of at least two generations has been unparalleled and commands attention, the traces of his presence in, and activity on, Portuguese culture are not easy to recuperate-time consuming as it is, archaeology is here of paramount importance, as the full scope of Domingues’s performance as a (pseudo) translating intellectual and bold creator of a lavish pseudonymity is yet to be fully acknowledged and assessed. Secondly, his was an existence marked by a metaphorical “vagabundagem” [vagrancy], a concept I will return to later in this article, as vagabundagem is a notion Domingues developed in his early writings and one that can be advantageously applied to his public persona and work, thus providing the contemporary reader with a clearer sense of who he may have been (forced to be). Thirdly, a handful of other researchers, both in Translation Studies and Sociology, have shown a lively interest in Mário Domingues (see, for instance, the groundbreaking work by Moniz 2007 and Garcia 2012). Unfortunately, the work has been discontinuous at best, mostly for lack of funding and time.
