He is French. But when he speaks Telugu, it has a typical Andhra twang and drawl.
It’s because the 63-year-old Daniel Negers, a professor in the Department of South Asia and Himalayan Studies of French National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations, had his first brush with Telugu language at Peddapuram in East Godavari district in 1980s. Pursuing further research after his M.Phil in social and cultural anthropology or ethnology, he had come to Peddapuram for his field study. His purpose was to understand the local way of life – culture, language and society. During his four-year research till 1990 under the Indo French Cultural Exchange Programme, attached to Andhra University, he lived at Peddapuram with his wife and son for two-and-a-half years, and followed it later with several visits.
“The stay facilitated me to learn the local language, know the culture and folk art forms here and I could associate with the learned men, scholars, and people from various communities,” Mr. Daniel told The Hindu on the sidelines of the World Telugu Conference here. Folk arts such as Burrakatha, Jamukula Katha and social and mythological dramas were patronised by all communities even in 1980s. “It gave me an opportunity to witness those fascinating classical and folk art forms and interact with people of all communities and classes at these gatherings which helped my ethnological research,” he said.
“I could learn about great poets of Andhra and Telangana – Palkuriki Somana, Pothana, Vemana– and social reformers like Kandukuri and Gurajada, writers like Rayaprolu Subbarao, and literature in all forms. The Burrakathas on social themes had expressed concern for social justice, humour, satire on social maladies by various organisations of different ideologies like Jana Natya Mandali,” he recalled.
“I realised that Telugu as a language enlightened both the elite and the general public and Harikatha and Burrakatha artistes deciphered the themes into common peoples’ language and conscience,” Mr. Daniel said.
For those outside India, south India was mostly synonymous with Tamil language till mid 1950s. Many non Indian-origin university scholars who came to India were not aware of Telugu language or its culture though it has rich literary traditions and renowned poets, writers and scholars at least since 11th century.
Interestingly, Mr. Daniel revealed that in his own institute, not more than 10 to 12 professors knew about Telugu language and its culture when at least 100 professors knew of Tamil language and its culture. Given this, he made it his mission to translate the body of knowledge in Telugu language into French. “This will make it easier for the next generation to know the language and the culture.”
Mr. Daniel’s latest work is a translation of Chinthamani which is presently being proof-read. He has already translated several Burrakatha themes such as Pedda Bobbili Raju Katha , Jangam Katha , Sunkara Satyanarana’s Alluri Sitarama Raju , Kashta Jeevi and stories of Ravuri Bharadwaj, Amaravathi Kathalu and some Yanam Kathalu into French.
He feels honoured to be invited to World Telugu Conference as such conferences bring back the focus on preserving and propagating knowledge, history and culture through popular art forms linked to a language and the need to value them and the artistes. “Otherwise, you lose the people as also their culture. With the advent of television, these art forms are being relegated to the background which are receding from the public view. Events like World Telugu Conference will keep them in focus,” he avered.
