Politics of translation with reference to select short stories of Mahasweta Devi

Abstract

Translation is an indispensable part of human existence on this earth from time newlineimmemorial serving the elementary purpose of communication between different language newlineindividuals or communities. With the development of critical perceptions through Translation newlineStudies the domain of translation has been redefined. The translator has been attributed a newlinecomplex position in the newly defined web of asymmetrical power relations pervading cultural newlineinteraction. The variations in theoretical presumptions extant in western and non-western newlineepistemological construct entails in the production of contradictory critical perceptions regarding newlinetranslation. Within this dynamic critical framework scrutinizing the English translation of the newlineliterary works of Mahasweta Devi enlarges the scope for the exploration of multifarious power newlineequations at play. Revisiting the select short stories of Mahasweta Devi pitted against their newlinetranslations this research work solicits to explore the politics of power negotiated at various newlinelevels of the translation process. The Bangla stories of Mahasweta Devi are replete with her newlineradical stance critiquing unabashedly the social system that perpetrates the victimization and newlineperpetuates the deplorable conditions of the underprivileged characters. The present study seeks newlineto discern the latent politics of the translator in transporting such cultural and ideological nuances newlineof the original stories in Bangla. To accomplish this endeavour the methodological framework newlinewill incorporate critical strategies like linguistic homogenisation/appropriation, feminism, newlinepostcolonialism, and subaltern historiography. The cultural and theoretical allegiance of both the newlineauthor and the translators will pervade the critical interface. newline