Re: Telugus writing in English (:
uday bhaskar (srijna@hotmail.com)
Mon, 01 Sep 1997 01:13:48 PDT
SrI jagdISh uvAca:
>Well, I'll have to say that, my post has been misunderstood once
>again.Similar to your experience reading the above, anyone who knows
how
>to
>read Telugu -- but not familiar with what it means to be a Brahmin --
>reads
>"kalupu mokkalu," will definitely be introduced to what's going on in
>the
>society where the story took place. She might even feel deeply about
>the
>curruption and exploitation of the poor by those who are in power. What
>she'll miss for sure, unless someone tells her beforehand, is the
>intense irony
>and humiliation a Brahmin feels when he says "vEdam
vallincinavANNi...".
mAstAroo,
I have not read kalupu mokkalu, but looks like you have proved my point.
You have given your interpretation of the story, quite cogently, in
English!
Obviously, any story worth its salt will have its moorings in reality.
And any story with its moorings in reality will be better understood by
some one who has lived and tasted that reality. That is not to say,
however, that such deep rooted cultural references are the only reason
why one would read such stories. Our debate started with your saying
that since the reader would "miss the point by a 1000 miles", there is
no point in translating.
>The story would have lost it's intensity, due to lack of irony, had
the
>victim
>been a labourer and spoke like "nI bAnchanu, kAlmoktA!," sort of
>rhetoric.
>The lower class people have been exploited in so many ways for
centuries
>that
>noone notices the irony or humiliation in their rhetoric. This is what
>I meant
>when I said deep rooted cultural references. In essence, an outsider
>cannot
>distinguish between the victim being a Brahmin or a labourer, unless
>explicitly
>notified, speaking in one rhetoric or the other.
BTW, I am not sure whether Sastry gAru intended the irony of a high
caste vEda panDituDu being humiliated as the highlight of his story (the
"point", as you put it). So, even though I come from the same cultural
background (I am from an orthodox Brahmin family), I have also "missed
the point by a 1000 miles".
>
>Though I haven't had a chance to read all of the above, read Steinbeck,
>Dosteovsky and Hemingway nevertheless. Saw the movie "How green
>was my valley".
>
>There's no doubt these are great works. But it's important to give
>credit to
>the appropriate qualities that made them great. Is it due to the
times,
>places and
>culture from which the theme was derived or the universal nature of
>their theme
>itself? Or the brilliance of the author in elaborating basic human
>experiences?
>
As bApA rAo gAru has rightly put it, the success of these stories is
because of all the above reasons - but, above all, it is because of the
compassion and identification of the author with the theme in each case.
Actually, I am not sure what you mean when you distinguish between
"universal nature of the theme" and "times, places and culture" of the
theme. cera banDa rAju's stories and poems have a tremendous amount of
nativity and cultural specificity, yet his songs have been translated
into at least 8 Indian languages, and he is easily the most "universal"
of our writers in this century.
>Interestingly, I find none of the above, that I've read, as making deep
>rooted
>cultural references in a manner same as some of Telugu literary works
>did in
>their themes. I would appreciate if you could elaborate on any one of
>the above.
Well, just a few instances:
1. Grapes of Wrath is full of references to "Oakies". How many people
who are unfamiliar with the turn of the century history of the US when
people migrated west wards to fulfil the "California Dream" would be
aware of the irony and humiliation of being an "Oakie"? Is this any
different from the "cultural references" to the plight of bonded labor
in kALIpaTnaM rAmA rAo's "ya~jnyam" or C.S.Rao's "UrummaDi bratukulu"?
2. To Kill a Mocking Bird is all about prejudices in small town America.
Again, can an outsider really understand the horror of being a "Boo
Radley", totally shut out from the outside world? (or can't she?)
Well, I am sure there are several other instances, but the point is
simply this - Simply because there are cultural references, a good work
of literature does not get disqualified from getting translated. After
all, if the Arabian Nights and the Rubayyiat could be translated (metre
and all!) and appreciated by the English speaking world, why not "kanyA
SulkaM" ?
Regards,
Uday "Culturally Challenged" Bhaskar
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