post-colonial_translation

Srikantaiah and Kannada translation 171
Like the rose, the lotus in Sanskrit and Kannada love poetry is a
standard image. Again, BMS uses a well-coded and familiar device to
naturalize the English text.
These two examples are among many which could be singled out
from these poems, showing how BMS remains within the universe of
traditional Kannada poetry even while ‘translating’ an alien culture.
This naturalizing dynamic is made perfectly clear in BMS’s preface,
where he says that he has not necessarily chosen the ‘best’ poems in
English but those that best suit the Kannada temperament, thus
making translation an act of conscious appropriation.
Through this small volume, Kannada people can learn
something about English literature . . . [and in this way escape]
mindless traditionalism and expose ourselves to themes like war,
love, death, patriotism, nature, human relations, etc. which have
been universal and to see how different poets from various
countries have dealt with these is necessary for us. We need to
take courage and diligently review these and march forward
towards progress.
His most successful and popular translated poems show, then, a perfect
fit between his intention, choice of text and translation strategy. In
fact, BMS’s poems have completely displaced the originals as far as
the Kannada reader is concerned. The poems did not open onto an
engagement with English culture, but served the cause of Kannada.
BMS: CULTURAL ICON
Is it this allegiance to Kannada which explains the tremendous impact
of English Geethagalu at the time of its publication and the continuing
worship of BMS in the Kannada critical milieu The period known as
the Renaissance of Kannada literature, from 1900 to 1940, was
marked by the impact of Western education, the Hindu reform
movement and the Gandhian nationalist movement. There was a clear
consciousness that Kannada literature needed new stimulation, such
as it had received from previous contacts with Sanskrit and Persian.
The English tradition – including the Classics – was seen as a new
form of outside influence, which could provide challenge and
nourishment for Kannada, at the same time strengthening a sense of
Kannada identity in opposition to Hindi, Tamil or Marathi. But most
important, certainly, is the fact that BMS sensed the need to shape a