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Chapter 6. More or less “translation”

Landscapes of language and communication in India
  • Rita Kothari and Krupa Shah
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A World Atlas of Translation
This chapter is in the book A World Atlas of Translation

Abstract

This essay aims to theorise the present moment of translation in India without losing sight of its historical and contemporary understandings. It traces in the pre-modern moment, a range of linguistic negotiations to destabilise a theory of an absence of translation and dwells on perceptions of linguistic difference to show what ‘translation’ meant in pre-modern India. We demonstrate subsequently how colonial technologies produce the institution of language through translation, and also how translation rests upon the institutions of languages. We argue that ‘translation’ as a term and as a concept of text-to-text/written transference of meaning is a nineteenth century phenomenon dating back to the colonial period. Furthermore, in the postcolonial moment that saw the use of translation in the service of regional and national identities, we also examine the complex relationship between English and the ‘modern Indian languages’ that has given rise to new creolised idioms.

Abstract

This essay aims to theorise the present moment of translation in India without losing sight of its historical and contemporary understandings. It traces in the pre-modern moment, a range of linguistic negotiations to destabilise a theory of an absence of translation and dwells on perceptions of linguistic difference to show what ‘translation’ meant in pre-modern India. We demonstrate subsequently how colonial technologies produce the institution of language through translation, and also how translation rests upon the institutions of languages. We argue that ‘translation’ as a term and as a concept of text-to-text/written transference of meaning is a nineteenth century phenomenon dating back to the colonial period. Furthermore, in the postcolonial moment that saw the use of translation in the service of regional and national identities, we also examine the complex relationship between English and the ‘modern Indian languages’ that has given rise to new creolised idioms.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface 1
  4. Chapter 1. Translating in the Pacific 13
  5. Chapter 2. Recent tradition in Australia 39
  6. Chapter 3. Japanese conceptualizations of ‘translation’ 55
  7. Chapter 4. Contemporary views of translation in China 81
  8. Chapter 5. From plagiarism to incense sticks 105
  9. Chapter 6. More or less “translation” 125
  10. Chapter 7. The Persian tradition 149
  11. Chapter 8. The notion of translation in the Arab world 169
  12. Chapter 9. Traditions of translation in Hebrew culture 193
  13. Chapter 10. Altaic tradition 215
  14. Chapter 11. Translation tradition throughout South African history 243
  15. Chapter 12. Translation traditions in Angola 271
  16. Chapter 13. The culture(s) of translation in Russia 287
  17. Chapter 14. The concept of translation in Slavic cultures 309
  18. Chapter 15. The Greek-speaking tradition 323
  19. Chapter 16. Latin/Romance tradition 341
  20. Chapter 17. Germanic tradition 355
  21. Chapter 18. Hispanic South America 375
  22. Chapter 19. The history of translation in Brazil through the centuries 395
  23. Chapter 20. Translation in Central America and Mexico 419
  24. Chapter 21. Translation and North America 443
  25. Postface 465
  26. Bio-notes 471
  27. Index of languages, people, toponyms 481
  28. Name index 485
  29. Subject index 491
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.145.06kot

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface 1
  4. Chapter 1. Translating in the Pacific 13
  5. Chapter 2. Recent tradition in Australia 39
  6. Chapter 3. Japanese conceptualizations of ‘translation’ 55
  7. Chapter 4. Contemporary views of translation in China 81
  8. Chapter 5. From plagiarism to incense sticks 105
  9. Chapter 6. More or less “translation” 125
  10. Chapter 7. The Persian tradition 149
  11. Chapter 8. The notion of translation in the Arab world 169
  12. Chapter 9. Traditions of translation in Hebrew culture 193
  13. Chapter 10. Altaic tradition 215
  14. Chapter 11. Translation tradition throughout South African history 243
  15. Chapter 12. Translation traditions in Angola 271
  16. Chapter 13. The culture(s) of translation in Russia 287
  17. Chapter 14. The concept of translation in Slavic cultures 309
  18. Chapter 15. The Greek-speaking tradition 323
  19. Chapter 16. Latin/Romance tradition 341
  20. Chapter 17. Germanic tradition 355
  21. Chapter 18. Hispanic South America 375
  22. Chapter 19. The history of translation in Brazil through the centuries 395
  23. Chapter 20. Translation in Central America and Mexico 419
  24. Chapter 21. Translation and North America 443
  25. Postface 465
  26. Bio-notes 471
  27. Index of languages, people, toponyms 481
  28. Name index 485
  29. Subject index 491
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