post-colonial_translation

50 G.J.V. Prasad
English. Almost all characters in Kanthapura are identified thus:
‘cardamom-field Ramachandra’, ‘corner-house Moorthy’, ‘pockmarked
Sidda’, etc. The modifier which fixes the identity of the character
may derive from property owned or lived in, profession (‘Postmaster
Suryanarayana’), physical characteristics or habit, (‘Nose-scratching
Nanjamma’), hierarchical positions (‘Patel Ranga Gowda’), location
(‘Kuppur Suryanarayana’) or caste (‘Pariah Rachanna’). In the complex
gradation of this village society, occupation may also be caste-bound.
So ‘Carpenter Kenchayya’ is identified not only by occupation but as
lower caste. This mode of reference is particularly South Indian and is
very common in Kannada and Tamil. It must be noted, however, that
even South Indians would not employ it in English: this use is unique to
Raja Rao’s Kanthapura.
There are other culture-specific idioms which may be strange to
English ears and eyes: grammatical deviations; loan-shifts as lexisbound
translations from the Indian language of the context; and
semantic shifts arising from contextual deviation due to a different usage
of English. (These are also calques.) We have already noticed a case of
semantic shift when Narsamma addresses Venkamma as ‘sister’. Kachru
has this to say about kinship terms:
In English brother, sister, or brother-in-law all belong to the lexical
set of kinship terms. In . . . [Indian English] extra semantic features
are assigned and their range of functions in other lexical sets
widened e.g. [+ affection], [+ regard], [+ abuse], [+ mode of
address].
(Kachru 1983: 46)
Thus, the use here of ‘sister’ as a mode of address for a woman
not related to the speaker points to politeness and lack of hostility;
Narsamma is signalling that she holds Venkamma in regard. It is
thus a strategy used by the character to end an unpleasant episode,
to accept an apology. Kinship terms can be used differently in Indian
English: ‘for instance, mother as a term of respect, sister of regard,
and father-in-law in the sense of abuse’ (ibid.: 117). The last is akin
to brother-in-law which may be a term of endearment as well as
abuse; both terms depending for their abusive connotation on a
value system where to allege ‘morally loose’ behaviour by their
womenfolk is a deadly insult to the men. A man can be called a
‘father-in-law’/ ‘brother-in-law’ only if the speaker has slept with
his daughter/sister and this dishonours the entire family. The