Microsoft Word Revised Syllabus Ver doc

LESSON – V 
MAJOR CONCERNS ABOUT TRANSLATION OF
INDIAN LITERATURE 
Translation is nothing new in the Indian literary scenario. The possibility of 
translation in the Indian context is greater than in the west. The monolingual literary culture 
of the west views the possibility of translation as difficult. But in the multilingual literary 
culture of India the consciousness itself is a “Translating Consciousness”. As Devy observes 
further: “The act of shifting form one dialect to another, from one register of speech to 
another, of mixing two or three languages within the span of single sentence does not seem 
unnatural to it” 
Even in the very early days, translations were being done in India. Often, in such 
cases, the SLT was the Sanskrit classics and the TL, the regional languages. These early 
translations from Sanskrit to the regional languages were less concerned about word for word 
translation. To the translators of the day both the languages were ‘their own’ and their 
intention to translate Sanskrit texts was to “liberate the scripture from the monopoly of a 
restricted class of people”. 
English and Indian Literary Scene 
The English language which is a legacy from the British influenced the Indian literary 
scene in two ways. First, it provided a medium of expression in the form of Indian Writing in 
English. Second it provided a medium for exploring the past as well as the present at a wider 
level through Indo English. Before proceeding any further, a distinction has to be made 
between Indo Anglian and Indo English literature and for their purpose one could refer to the 
eminent litterateur V.K. Gkak. He, in his work “English in India: its Present and Future,” 
explains that Indo English constitutes “translations by Indians from Indian literature into 
English”, while ‘Indo-Anglian’ “comprises the work of Indian writers in English” 
(Mukherjee, 4). Sometimes, this distinction tends to get muffled. For instance, Dorothy M. 
Spencer in her introduction to her annotated bibliography of Indian novels written in English 
does not seriously differentiate between novels written in English and novels in Indian 
languages translated into English. The pioneering work in Indo English literature was mainly 
done by the English and the Americans. Gradually, the Indians themselves undertook this 
stupendous task. This act of the Indians has an air of the unnatural about it because the 
Indians translate their own language in an acquired one which is against the normal 
translation practice. 

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