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Translation reviewA TRANSLATION OR A MIS-TRANSLATION?My Story and My Life as an ActressEdited and translated by Rimli BhattacharyaPublished by Kali for Women, New Delhi278 pagesPrice Rs. 300Debjani Ray MoulikTranslation is absolutely indispensable for a widereadership. It is the only way by which a text in one language can beread by someone who is not familiar with that particular language.Thus the translator has a very important role to play. A translatorshould be aware that it is she who is going to introduce the author tothe people who cannot comprehend the language of the original. Sheshould desist from using such words and expressions as were notmeant by the author. He might have the capability to express thethoughts of the author far better than author himself has done; butthen his job is merely to translate the text and not to improve upon it.This is one view of literary translationRimli Bhattacharya’s translation of the autobiography ofBinodini Dasi, the eminent theatre personality of the late nineteenthcentury Bengali stage – Amar Katha and Amar Abhinetri Jiban maybe cited as an example of how a translation should not be carriedout. Not that she is translating something out of the blue, but that sheis utterly careless, even feckless about it. In her hurry to finish andbe dome with job, she makes lots of mistakes that could have beeneasily avoided had she been more diligent. So much so that onesimply cannot rely on what she writes – one has to re-check it in theBengali original!Translation Today Vol. 3 Nos. 1 & 2, 2006 © CIIL 2006