post-colonial_translation

Srikantaiah and Kannada translation 163
The larger framework for this investigation is a concern for the
paradoxical results of cultural and literary contact. On the one hand,
it is known that massive influence from the West created heavily
imitative forms of expression in India, as in other colonized areas; on
the other, we know that this same influence also had the effect of
provoking the emergence of totally new forms. For instance, the most
intense point of British influence in India was in Bengal. It was the
very force of this influence, however, that provided the impetus for
renewed forms of Bengali narrative, and in particular the emergence
of the novel in Bengali (Das, 1995, p. 41). Today, an increasingly global
situation of literary exchange means that there is a drive towards
uniformity and levelling of difference, but there is also a counter-force
of resistance working to produce original forms of the local.
Translations contribute to both of these dynamics: while often serving
as the vehicle of global commonplace, they also act as catalysts in the
emergence of contestatory forms of writing. Translations provoke
cultural change.
This essay is a collaborative effort, coming out of our different
locations and knowledges. We have constructed our narrative by
combining the different perspectives from which we view this material:
on the one hand, an insider’s participatory grasp of the relations
between Kannada and English literature; on the other, the kinds of
perceptions made possible by familiarity with the interlingual situation
in Canada. The presence of two strong literary cultures in Canada
and the imperatives of official bilingualism have resulted in a rich
tradition of literary translation as well as a well-developed sensitivity
to the dissymmetries in the impact and cultural value of translations. 1
Though the intricate weave of languages and cultures in India makes
for a vastly more complex socio-linguistic ecosystem than the Canadian
one, translation is in both cases a particularly sensitive indicator of
cultural tensions. Using this double perspective allows us to enlarge
the frame through which we can understand cultural difference as it
works through translation.
We begin with the axiom that India, perhaps more fully than most
other nations, is a ‘translation area’. Languages and idioms are in
constant interaction, whether at the level of informal daily
interchange, or in the more formal registers of governmental
communications or creative work. The power of English as a link
language grows steadily, yet continues to coexist everywhere with
the national language (Hindi) and regional languages.