Caste in and Recasting language
-
G.J.V. Prasad
Abstract
This paper considers translation in Tamil as an internal process of changes within the language itself and focuses on how it has negotiated the pressures of the other classical language, accommodating and resisting Sanskrit sounds, words and literary concerns. This negotiation has been influenced by factors that contribute to the power structure—religion, caste and political patronage. Although early in the second millennium there was a movement to write a mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit, Tamil identity has consolidated around the idea of a classical language and culture distinct from that of Sanskrit. This led to repeated purification campaigns, some conducted on clear caste lines. The paper examines how Tamil was translated into a hybrid language and how in turn it has purified itself, especially over the last century.
Abstract
This paper considers translation in Tamil as an internal process of changes within the language itself and focuses on how it has negotiated the pressures of the other classical language, accommodating and resisting Sanskrit sounds, words and literary concerns. This negotiation has been influenced by factors that contribute to the power structure—religion, caste and political patronage. Although early in the second millennium there was a movement to write a mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit, Tamil identity has consolidated around the idea of a classical language and culture distinct from that of Sanskrit. This led to repeated purification campaigns, some conducted on clear caste lines. The paper examines how Tamil was translated into a hybrid language and how in turn it has purified itself, especially over the last century.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
- Caste in and Recasting language 17
- Translation as resistance 29
- Tellings and renderings in medieval Karnataka 43
- Translating tragedy into Kannada 57
- The afterlives of panditry 75
- Beyond textual acts of translation 95
- Reading Gandhi in two tongues 107
- Being-in-translation 119
- (Mis)Representation of sufism through translation 133
- Translating Indian poetry in the Colonial Period in Korea 145
- A. K. Ramanujan 161
- An etymological exploration of ‘translation’ in Japan 175
- Translating against the grain 195
- Index 213
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
- Caste in and Recasting language 17
- Translation as resistance 29
- Tellings and renderings in medieval Karnataka 43
- Translating tragedy into Kannada 57
- The afterlives of panditry 75
- Beyond textual acts of translation 95
- Reading Gandhi in two tongues 107
- Being-in-translation 119
- (Mis)Representation of sufism through translation 133
- Translating Indian poetry in the Colonial Period in Korea 145
- A. K. Ramanujan 161
- An etymological exploration of ‘translation’ in Japan 175
- Translating against the grain 195
- Index 213
