They bring to you writing from languages you don’t know, introduce you to unfamiliar worlds, broaden the imagination and ignite new ideas. In the world of literature, translators play second fiddle to authors. But without their skills the world would be a poorer place, literally
Is Gabriel Garcia Marquez a Malayali? That's the title of an essay by Kerala-based English professor Meena T Pillai on the influence of translations in Malayalam literature. Besides pointing to the popularity of the late Colombian writer whose translated works have sold like hot chaya in Kerala since the 1980s, the question unwittingly begs a series of questions: Why don't readers know the name of Gabo's translator? Or of any translator for that matter? Is it a translator's fate to remain anonymous? What else is lost in translation? Is there money? On International Translation Day, TOI seeks answers from those who professionally straddle two languages.
Arunava Sinha | Translates classic, modern and contemporary Bengali fiction and non-fiction from Bangladesh and India into English
Translation is, as someone said, part crossword puzzle, part poetry. It has changed my life completely. I got interested in translation in college when I realised that many of the books we were reading were translations. It began as a way to understand how translation works and became a serious activity about 15 years ago when I was in the middle of my other life as a journalist and was all set to have a midlife crisis. Now I teach creative writing with translation as the fulcrum of the process at Ashoka University.
Arunava Sinha | Translates classic, modern and contemporary Bengali fiction and non-fiction from Bangladesh and India into English
Translation is, as someone said, part crossword puzzle, part poetry. It has changed my life completely. I got interested in translation in college when I realised that many of the books we were reading were translations. It began as a way to understand how translation works and became a serious activity about 15 years ago when I was in the middle of my other life as a journalist and was all set to have a midlife crisis. Now I teach creative writing with translation as the fulcrum of the process at Ashoka University.