Barbara Zocal Da Silva, PhD

Barbara Zocal Da Silva is a multiracial translator and interpreter of Brazilian Portuguese, English, and Spanish. Since 2022, she has served as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UMD Department of Spanish and Portuguese (SPAP), where she teaches language and translation courses, coordinates curricula, develops anti-racist class plan modules and events for the Portuguese Minor Program, co-coordinates the SPAP Center for Translation and Interpreting. 

In 2024, she was appointed the PTK representative on the ARHU Academic Planning Advisory Committee (APAC). That same year, she also held the position of Deputy Portuguese Director during the Spring semester, organized the first Carnaval Celebration at UMD, and participated in the 2023-2024 ADVANCE Program for PTK Women in Leadership (WPTK). Dr. Zocal Da Silva has participated in the PTK Symposium since her first year at the university. She believes that participating in this event is crucial for all PTK members, particularly those from minoritized groups, as it provides essential support and enhances career development. In 2025, she is a member of the PTK Symposium Committee.

She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of São Paulo (LELEHA/FFLCH, 2022), with a focus on Translation Studies. Her research examines the reception of translations across the American continent through decolonial and anti-racist lenses.

Publications

Dr. Zocal Da Silva's research and practical work centers on humanitarian translation and interpreting, with a focus on decolonial, anti-racist, and feminist practices.

In 2025, she will publish her translation of a book featuring the memories of Capoeira Angola masters in Rio de Janeiro, translating it from Brazilian Portuguese into US English.

Her doctoral research examines the reception of translations of Hispanic-American women’s works published in Brazil. This is detailed in her thesis titled "Betwixt Maitena and PowerPaola: A Historiography Sin Fronteras of Spanish-American Graphic Narratives Translated in Brazil" (2022). A summary of this research is featured in the Mexican podcast "Componentes Literários: Traducción y Recepción de Historietas" (2021).

Here are some highlights of her translated works: 

• Portuguese/Spanish Guía Básica de Derechos Laborales y Seguridad Social para Inmigrantes y Refugiados (GEMDIT/USP, 2022), a Labor Rights and Social Security Handbook for Immigrants and Refugees
• Spanish/Portuguese Poems of José Antonio Ramos Sucre (1921, 1929), Rafael Cadenas (1958, 1977), and Alfredo Silva Estrada (1970, 1974), published in "Mostra de Poesia Venezolana" (Malha Fina Cartonera, 2020).
• English/Portuguese translation edition of bell hooks' book "Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black" (Elefante, 2019).
• Spanish/Portuguese translation of the graphic novels "5 por Infinito" (Pipoca & Nanquim, 2018), by Esteban Maroto (Spain), and "Rupay and Barbarie" (Veneta, 2016) by Alfredo Villar, Luis Rossell, and Jesús Cossio (Peru).

Her book chapter, "A Tradução Linguística nos Quadrinhos: Práticas de Tradução e Análise"(Lexikos, 2020), contributes to expanding discussions in the field of graphic narrative translation. She also co-edited the journal "Cadernos de Literatura em Tradução 21 – Especial Autoras" (Tradterm, 2019).

In 2019, she performed a reading of her original poem "Compass Rose" at the Millennium Stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.