Kapilas Bhuyan
Translation is the window for global exchange of culture
One should enjoy while translating content from one to another language, and that really reflects in the works of translation. If the translation is too literal, it might be correct without the intrinsic essence. Thus, the challenges of translating the culture specific content are manifold. And translating verse is more so.
Verses are full of images and metaphors interlaced with specific rhythm. It’s said that the nuances of language expressions are often lost in translation. For this reason, many translators are in favour of transcreation. However, it could turn out to be a double-error. If a translator becomes creative, s/he might not give justice to the original content, and neither her/his transcreation would be of any value.
As regards translating culture specific content, it is a double benefit process. There is a lot of scope for a translator to learn about various cultural practices by just sitting at home and translating content coming from various cultural sources. The translator becomes very important player as s/he needs to understand first the cultural specificity of a given content in the original language and pass on its correct interpretation to the translating language. More often than not, it is seen that in a country like India English has become the bridging language. If the translator does not know the original and the translating language, and largely dependent on English for the purpose, the cultural specificity is bound to be diluted. However, the practice is accepted all over in our country because of our multilingual, multicultural and multiplicity of ethnic compositions. So, the whole translation process is more functional in its approach than correct transformation.
Despite having this inherent handicap, a sincere translator can deliver a good job by being patient in understanding the cultural nuances, images, metaphors and rhythms of the original content and transferring the core meaning of an expression to the maximum possible. It also gives a lot of scope to learn a lot, and thus, the process of translation brings a lot of fun to relish.
(The author is a Senior Journalist, writer and national award-winning filmmaker. Opinions are personal.)