Department of Translation Studies
The
English and Foreign Languages University
Hyderabad,
India-500 007
Call for Papers
3-day National
Seminar from 24th – 26th March, 2014
on
Translating
Oral/Folk texts from Indian Languages into English:
A Relook at
the (Re)Formations of Orientalism/Nationalism/Community in the Colonial and
Postcolonial contexts
Understanding the Orientalist discourse in the Indian context has
heavily relied on colonial archive in English and also the Indological work in
18th and 19th century. The role of translation in
constituting the Orientalist discourse on India or in the emergence of Indology
is also relatively only slightly explored, and the researchers have shown how
translations of Sanskrit texts into English played a major role in constituting
India (Indology). There are also quite a
number of studies of translations into Indian languages from English which
explore how modernity was translated through such acts of translations, and how
the colonial texts were morphed into nationalist ones during this period. But
there seems to be a whole lot of other texts that were in Indian languages and
in oral form were translated into English during the colonial period. Some of
these texts which have been retranslated and reissued in print form have become
iconic texts in the context of linguistic nationalism in India. Translation of
“poems” of Bhakti saints like Sarvajna, Valluvar, Tukaram, Kabir, Meera etc.; translation of
folk stories, songs from different languages including tribal languages in 19th
century and early 20th century; translation of classical/written
texts of some of the Indian languages like Telugu, Tamil and Kannada into English and other
European languages are yet to be understood in terms of their implications for
the twin discourses of Orientalism, Nationalism that emerged in the 19th
and 20th century India. Some
of these texts/saints whose popularity was limited to a particular caste/community/region
become the icon of a language through such translations into English during the
19th century. The seminar examines such oral/folk non-Sanskrit texts
translated into English both by the colonizers/missionaries and the native
elite, and probes the implications of these translations in certain
socio-political discursive formations. It is hoped that this seminar, by bringing
scholars who are working on such translations to deliberate on the issues, will
produce a sizable body of knowledge in the area which might bring to light the
neglected areas of research within the academic field now come to be known as
post-colonial studies/ translation studies.
Following are some of the textual translation corpus on which proposal
for papers can be submitted:
·
Translation of Bhakti Literature in 19th
and early 20th century into English by the missionaries/colonizers
·
Translation of Folk/Oral literature of Tribal
and Non-tribal Indian languages in the form of anthologies by the
colonizers/missionaries
·
Translation of same set of texts by the native
elite subsequently.
·
Problems of bringing such oral texts, which are
dynamic, into static book form and into an alien language and the politics of this
process.
·
Role of such canonical non-Sanskrit texts in
Understanding/constituting India in 19th and early 20th
century
The papers can focus on answering any of the following issues or any
other related ones:
§ Who
were the translators? Why did they choose these texts for translation?
§ What
were the modes of documenting the dynamic oral texts in print form?
§ What
were the methods of translation adopted to bring them into an alien language?
§ What
functions did such translations perform in Indology?
§ What
role did such translations play in constituting Orientalism and Nationalism?
§ What
were the consequences of translating/canonizing such texts in the Indian
language cultures/societies?
§ If
some of these texts/authors (like Thirukkural,
Sarvjna, Tukaram) went on to become the icons of a particular language,
can we say that translations played a major role in this?
§ If
multiple translations of the text have appeared over a period of time what
prompted the subsequent translations?
§ Do
the subsequent translations play the role of critiquing the earlier
translations? If yes how?
Important Dates:
Submission of Abstracts: 20th January, 2014
Acceptance will be conveyed by 31st January, 2014
Submission of Full Papers by 5th March, 2014
Please send an abstract of 500 words (maximum) in ms word
format or any other compatible format to the Coordinators of the Seminar:
Send your abstracts
to tsnseflu2014@gmail.com
Registration
Local Participants:
200
Non-local Participants:
500
Students:
100
Note: The organizers are not in a position to pay TA or DA
to any participants due to the paucity of funds. However, local hospitality at
Hyderabad would be extended to all participants.
Dr. H. Lakshmi
Associate Professor & Head
&
Dr. Tharakeshwar V.B.
Associate professor
Department of Translation Studies
The English and Foreign Languages University
Hyderabad-7
For further information mail us: tsnseflu2014@gmail.com
