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Living in Translation: Making Art More Available & Accessible
As the world shrinks at the click of our fingers, culture, literature, music, lifestyle, fashion from all around the globe are being served to us on a platter. However, even if information is available in abundance, it’s utility is determined only through different enablers. And translation is one of them. If we want to enjoy a Spanish movie on Netflix or a BTS song on YouTube, we have subtitles (translations only). On social media platforms, we can access any language by clicking on the “see translation” option. Likewise, in literature (not only the classics but even for a blog post), we can avail translations.
The word translation comes from a Latin term which means “to carry across”. Septuagint (translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek) and The Epic of Gilgamesh (translation of a Sumerian poem of the Mesopotamian Era into Asian languages) are believed to be the first translated texts. And throughout history there have been many such notable ventures like the translation of the Bible by William Tyndale in the fifteenth century and of one of the greatest Sanskrit Epics, The Mahabharata, by Kisari Mohan Ganguli in the nineteenth century.
Now, to understand translation, we need to understand two very important concepts: source language and target language. The source language is the language of the original text and the target language is the language in which it is translated.
To comprehend the “how” of translation let us consider John Dryden’s theory of “metaphrase, paraphrase and imitation”: Metaphrase is what we call “word-to-word” translation where the translators find an equivalent for every word in the target language. Then in paraphrase the translator follows the sense of the text rather than each word. And in imitation the translator takes complete liberty with the form and content and writes on just the basis of the old one.
This can be considered as a founding theory of translation and Dryden’s “metaphrase” and “paraphrase” have now come to be understood as “word to word translation” and “sense to sense translation” respectively. There is another very important aspect to translation. When we translate languages, we also translate a culture, lifestyle, perspectives, traditions and behaviour. For example, there are no English equivalents of bazaar or chutney so they usually make the cut without any changes. This is a foreignizing translation where the translated text closely conforms to the source text. But sometimes (in the case of a metaphrase translation), a writer might use “paste” for chutney or just market for a “bazaar”, which hinders full expression of the context of the word. This is an example of domesticated translation where the translation conforms with the target language.
Why translation?
With the concept of “global village” gaining more prominence everyday, translations will form a very big part of our life. Here’s a listicle as to why we need to have translation on the table:
- Because of translation, language isn’t a barrier anymore. We are introduced to newer ideas albeit slowly but steadily. Or else how would we have known that Russians are great writers and Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” is a binge read. How would the English had known about India’s rising Nationalism in the 1900s and how would we know if Vladimir and Estragon meet their Godot or not ( Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett translated from French)
- There are roughly around 7,117 documented languages dans le monde (in the world). And we haven’t even considered the dialects and the undocumented scripts. Learning all the languages is difficult but translation will surely help us to increase our awareness about them.
- Translation is a great enabler for artists who work within vernacular circles and have little or no global exposure. Off the top, I can recall Paperian Harini talking about a Tamil musician, Illayaraja, whose music is so perfect yet the exposure is very less. In one of TFP’s “Writing & Creativity Jam” meetings, she had translated a Tamil song “Vaadi Rasathi” to English and we were able to appreciate the honesty of the art. Here is an attached link to her translation: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLQj4p9AgB1/?utm_medium=copy_link & https://www.instagram.com/p/CMKnIadARgT/?utm_medium=copy_link (However, while bringing in the exposure for these talented artists, we should be vigilant of big names vulturing into plagiarising their work without any proper credits which is not very rare in the industry)
- Translation often works as a catalyst for our interest in exploring different cultures and learning new languages. And adding onto what we know already can never be bad (watch out for overlearning as well). The subtitles in the song, “মাজুলী” by Nilotpal Bora (link attached here: https://youtu.be/TgdgFEgzcjk ) will excite you about the locales and culture of Assam or the song “Chaudhary” (link: https://youtu.be/1gukvtH_a3I ) will make you want to bask in the sun of Rajasthan, wistfully playing around vintage streets and palaces or maybe you would want to learn French to enjoy the song “La vie en rose” by Edith Piaf (link: https://youtu.be/kN1WoneA1Kw )
Writing is a craft that can amplify voices and translation can be a very resourceful means at our disposal. As writers, we share a responsibility to give back something and the art of translation opens up newer avenues. And anyway, translation is a growing trend and it makes up for a considerable amount of content/blog posts on social media (blogs like https://doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com/ provide lyric translations of songs and many more). So, let us explore these avenues and make art more available and accessible to everyone around.
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As writers, take your first step towards making art more available and accessible. Translate your favourite song, any dialogue from your favourite movie or a folktale/story from your regional language to English. You can even translate the same from English to your regional language. Once done, share it on Instagram with the hashtag #TFPTranslation and tag The Folded Paper Group on Instagram https://instagram.com/thefoldedpapergroup
Excited to read all the works. Happy Writing!
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