Tamil literature in the past three decades has started to boldly describe reality, whether it is caste violence or other social issues. While it is acceptable in Tamil, translators, however, find it difficult to find publishers for these books, they say.
Padma Narayanan, who translated Jayamohan’s Yezham Ulagam , said the book dealt with human trafficking. “It is a powerful book, and should be read in all languages. I am still looking for a publisher who is willing to accept the book,” she said, speaking at ‘Conversation: Transporting the nuances of Tamil words to an English-speaking world’ on Sunday.
“I read both the English and Tamil versions and did not see anything objectionable in Perumal Murugan’s Mathorubhagan , but the protests have caused the author to stop writing completely,” she said.
N. Kalyan Raman, who has translated a number of books from Tamil to English, too agrees. “ Mathorubhagan was largely ignored in Tamil, but became controversial only after the translation came out.”
He added that he had recently translated a couple of books on caste violence, where the offending castes were mentioned. “These texts have a right to exist, since they spell out the reality of life,” he said.
“Translating a text takes a lot of skill to execute properly. Each time a text is translated, it is into contemporary language and in tune with the culture of the time. Two translations in different points in time will be very different,” he said about the process of translation, .
Context was very important to translations, Ms. Narayanan said. The discussion was organised by Madras Mag and Luz House.
