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Vanamala Viswanatha and Sherry Simon
new Kannada identity which was tied down neither by a stagnant
traditionalism nor by an allegiance to the English. BMS used
translation in the sense of roopantar, transformation, as a way of
countering adversaries both within and without. He employed the
hegemonic voice of the colonizer to release Kannada literature from
the monkey-grip of tradition which was closed in on itself, and thereby
provided a liberatory impetus. On the other hand, he invoked tradition
and maintained continuity with it, as an anchor against the devouring
impact of colonization which threatened his project of forging a
distinct Kannada identity.
The content of this Kannada identity was determined by the class
and caste to which he belonged. BMS clearly declared his biases
regarding what literature is and who it should reach. ‘Eschewing the
rural dialects, we should teach and print the clear Kannada spoken
by the best caste and the educated class, to convert it into the language
of our writing.’ 14 Both in terms of theme and form, BMS’s work
established a canon which privileged male, middle-class, educated,
Brahmin sensibility and the language of the Brahmin castes of the
Mysore region.
Even while promoting a modern identity which included new
genres and secular themes, this canon excluded other idioms and
styles. Bendre (1896–1982), an outstanding Kannada poet from
the region of Dharwad, used the spoken rhythms and folk idiom
of the Dharwad dialect, distinctly different from the canon BMS
helped establish. Being a nativist, he felt that BMS, through his
translations, had used the voice of the colonizer to gain power for
his own work. The example of Kuvempu (1904–1994) is also
pertinent. He came from the Shudra caste, was educated at a
missionary school, but adopted a style of writing poetry which is
highly Sanskritized and Brahminical. His epic poem Ramayana
Darshanam is written in a highly stylized Kannada which enjoyed
poetic legitimacy. 15 His two major novels, however, are written in
a local style and the language of his region. As far as his poetry
was concerned, Kuvempu felt forced to fall in line with the canon
established by BMS. Only Bendre was able to resist. The canonical
status of BMS consecrated, then, one idiom of Kannada writing
which was to remain dominant for several decades. Though
productive in that it set off a wave of translations 16 and new creative
work, BMS’s project is certainly not without its political
ambiguities, in particular with respect to his unquestioned loyalty
to the maharajah of Mysore. In addition, his Kannada nationalism