The University of Massachusetts Press has announced the publication of "Translation and Power", edited by Maria Tymoczko and Edwin Gentzler. The anthology is available for $ 18.95 in paperback and $ 50.00 in a library cloth edition.

The contributors to this volume see translation as an activity that takes place not in an ideal neutral site but in real social and political situations, with parties who have vested interests in the production and reception of texts across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Translation is not simply a process of faithful reproduction but invariably involves deliberate acts of selection, construction, and omission. It is inextricably linked to issues of cultural dominance, assertion, and resistance - in short, to power.

Although governments, churches, publishing firms, and other powerful institutions may influence the translation process, many translators have found ways to resist that influence and have used translation to introduce new ideas and modes of expression. They range from case studies of historical episodes in which translation has played a role in the assertion of political and military power, such as an 1840 treaty between the British and Maori that continues to be a source of conflict in present-day New Zealand, to analyze the work of specific translators, such as Germaine de Staël and Gayatri Spivak. Along with examining how translation contributes to ideological negotiations and cultural struggles, the essays reveal the dimensions of power inherent in the translation process itself - in the relationship of translator to author, source text, and translated text.

Marilyn Gaddis Rose, author of "Translation and Literary Criticism", praised the book by writing, "these essays deftly attack unthinking cultural imperialism with information, insight, and argument. Readers are unlikely to come away from the essays with their own opinions unchallenged or unchanged."

Douglas Robinson, author of "The Translator's Turn" and "Becoming a Translator", also expressed enthusiasm for the volume, commenting that "the scholarship in each author's individual field of study is top-notch…. This is an excellent book that will be received extremely positively."

Media review copies and requests for printed catalogs should be directed to: ralphk@umpress.umass.edu

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orders@umpress.umass.edu

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  Ms Nairrita Bhattacharya is into translating this opus into Bangla. She has till now translated 300 sutras with illustrative examples and necessary explanations

Though these sutras are based on Paninian sutras, they are constructed differently. Vyapadeva has combined several Paninian sutras (sometimes as many as 16 sutras) into one and some of the Paninian sutras are not taken into consideration at all. But Vyapadeva has constructed some new sutras also, some of which are based on Katyayana's Varttika. A new designation for each of the grammatical components is given here e.g. sva for a short vowel, da for adhikarana Karaka, pri for first case-affix, long vowel, etc., which makes the sutras sometimes very long and complicated to pronounce. The arrangement of sutras is according to the topic: beginning from Sandhi or conjunct which is easier for students to follow.

For this work, Ms Bhattacharya is taking the help of the Bengali translation of the text by Syamacharan Kaviratna Vidyabaridhi, the English translation of siddhanta Kaumudi by S.C. Vasu, the English translation of Astadhyayi and the Dictionary of Panini (in 3 vols.) by S.M. Katre.