A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

Editor's Note
‘Hindi’ is primarily a translation based journal. Every quarter we receive scores
of contributions from authors and translators. It is strange to find that authors
seldom translate well even though they are in complete control of the subject
matter. It is usually the translators who prove torch bearers to their work of
art. Even bilingual authors do not prove to be good translators of their own
work; they may write with finess in each of their source language but they fail
to build a bridge.
Harper Collins India organised recently a one-day seminar on precisely this
problem. The participants discussed various avenues of translation. Some felt that
an English translation should read like an original English text while some others
held that a translation should retain the flavor of the source language. Again
what are the possibilities of a translated text. Does it get polished or dimmed
in the process? There was much to say for and against each proposition. Authors
of quite a few regional languages feel that they are not given a fair share in
the world of translation. They hold that Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam and
Oriya works are translated into English more often than Telugu, Tamil, Kannada
and Assamese. The tilt of the English language publishers in favor of Hindi,
Bengali etc. also influences the translator’s choice. Finally what is the rapport
between the author and his translator? Do they have a dialogue and care for
each other or are they encased in their solo occupation? Very often the publisher
decides whether a certain language book is viable for translation and sales. To
him a book is a product like any other product that has to sell. A book may
have a longer shelf-life than onions and potatoes but ultimately no businessman
likes his ware in the cold storage. A publisher is a businessman whom we
often mistake for a missionary.
In any discussion on translation, the translator should be the nuclear point. It
is worthwhile to know how a translator looks upon his onus of recreating a book
or an article or a poem? First and foremost, he has to like what he reads
and decides to translate. Then on he has to subject himself to the discipline
of two languages, the source language and the language of translation. The assignment
January-March 2012 :: 5