| UNIT 422-10: SOCIAL CONTEXT OF LITERARY TRANSLATION
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Original
dusrii suurat --- raat gaaDii
men hii soyaa jaa saktaa hai.
par gurung? Wah bhuukhaa hii ho-
gaa --- kacciii rasad to hogii,
par banaayegaa kaise?
to gahaaraa naashtaa kiyaa thaa,
uske paas biskuT wagEraah bhii
hai ---- par afsarii kaa baDaa
kaayedaa hai ki apne maathat ko
kam-se-kam khaanaa to Thik khi-
laaye ---- >
(Ajneya ke sampoorna kahaniyan, page 506) |
Translation
He could sleep in the truck;
perhaps Gurung would be hun-
gry; he had his rations but
he would need a fire.
(Contemporary Indian
stories, page 68)
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| Here last two sentences of the original have been deleted in translation. The satirical tone about the Saheb's behavior towards his subordinate is typical of Indian context. Carrying the colonial impact of hierarchical superiority. It won't be meaningful for a foreign reader who is not much aware of Indian Bureaucracy's temperament. The Indian reader can easily get the irony involved in the behavior of the defense personnel and their subordinates. |
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| If the text is translated for the similar society and culture, the translator does not need to explain a number of things as the reader himself knows them. Translators of the works of Sharad, Bankim or Subrahmanya Bharati into Hindi may transfer the text in Target language without bothering much for the setting or situations as the same would do on the target language. |
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| If a piece of literature is translated for the foreign reader then the content is transferred into the linguistic culture of the TL. Transferring into linguistic culture does not mean totally replacing the setting, what is meant is the immediate communicability for the reader, what is meant is the immediate communicability for the reader. First of all what is needed the reader should feel at ease and at home with the translated text. Then of course, comes the literary excellence of the translated piece. We have referred to Gillian Wright's translation of "Raag Darbari". The setting is as that of original. The attempts have been made to familiarize the reader with the atmosphere and situations of the novel. |
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| In Harbans Rai Bachchan's translation of John Fitzgerald's "Rubaiyat of Omar Khaiyaam" one finds the reader's angle predominating. Maintaining the Mysticism of Khaiyyam, Bachchan has taken liberty with the text (almost Indianized it) so as to make it perfectly popular in Hindi. While previous translations of Rubaiyat remain in the shelves, Bachchan's translation has been on the mouth of the people, of course more popular than Bachchan's original poems. While Tagore translated "Gitanjali" into English, he too did various changes. Some of the verses were shifted. The news once added in the place of some of the deleted ones. Obviously, these changes must have been made keeping the foreign readership in view. |
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| 422.10.8 : TRANSLATING FOR AUDIENCE |
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| Translation of plays shows another dimension of what we called "the readers angle". The drama being a performing art and visual medium, the play is meant to be staged and is written keeping audience in the view. A playwright has the stage and the contemporary audience in his mind. These factors decide the whole structure of his plays. Shakespeare's play's were written to be performed on the Elizabethan stage and for the Elizabethan audience. |
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| The drama is a live medium. It is not meant to be read at reader's own pace. It is meant to be acted alive in front of the audience. In spite of being passive spectator, the audience has a live relationship with the actors (which distinguishes the drama from a film or a television). The words uttered and deeds done are received by the audience through the senses. Therefore, the dramatic writing is expected to have an immediacy of appeal. Expressed in dialogues its language represents the life in action. It has the literary qualities as well as colloquial ease. |
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| Translation of drama is also done keeping the stage and the audience in view. This audience is the translator's contemporary audience belonging to TL society and culture. The translated dramatic text is supposed to be acted in front of this audience and would make live contact with this audience. So the translation means the atmosphere and colloquial ease of the target language. For this the drama translator applies various devices according to his taste and capabilities. For example : |
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i. Shifting the setting of the theme in the social atmosphere of the TL.
Changing the names of the characters, places etc.
ii. Changing the linguistic atmosphere without changing the setting.
iii. Adopting medium of prose in the place of poetry etc.
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