Re: Modern Indian Novels in Translation -Reply
Kanaka Prasad (prasad@grove.ufl.edu)
Wed, 22 May 1996 09:12:15 -0400
Many telugu writers are disappointed that there's hardly any effort towards
translating fiction from telugu to English. When KaaRaa mastaru was here,
he expressed similar concerns; he was looking to NRI telugus to take it up.
Short stories should be easier to translate as they are short. An year or
so ago, Drs. Kalasapudi and Jampala tried to initiate an effort to translate
telugu stories into english. I translated one of Tripura's stories, titled
Subbarayudi Rahasya Jeevitham, only to find later that the telugu piece
itself was a transcreation of one of James Thurber's original stories!!
Translation is a difficult and thankless job. It is a balancing act
between preserving the spirit of the parent story and nativity of the
daughter culture. I found that transcreation does a much better job in
this respect, than a translation. A good translator is invariably a good
writer in both languages. Late Godavari Sarma had a lot of promise for
translation, but he is no more. Translations happen when enterprising
chaps (like our own Kalasapudi, Nasy, Pillalamarri, PVG and VCJ) 'assign'
things to people and set deadlines. Mohan and Mohan
Can we make this happen?
with best regards,
Kanaka Prasad