Chapter 2. Translation and transnationality in the Himalaya
-
Prem Poddar
Abstract
Focusing on migration, translation and diaspora-formation, my chapter explores how Gorkha writing both crystallizes and problematizes postcolonial identities. Gorkhaness hinges on a fulcrum of ambivalence as it seeks to articulate a separate cultural identity away from Nepal and relocate itself within the citizenry and national culture of India. The iconic Darjeeling writer Indra Bahadur Rai narrates Gorkha subjectivity as it attempts to recast itself within the Indian matrix, riddled as it is by ethno-nationalist demands, including the cry for a Gorkhaland. Questions of translation in a transnational context in the Himalayas, I argue, has become the central concern in the writers I discuss. These writings enact a process of ‘alienation and of secondariness in relation to itself”. Rai comes across as a Gorkha nationalist/ethnicist, but the necessary ambivalence of his text ends up imagining and rewriting a more inclusive community.
Abstract
Focusing on migration, translation and diaspora-formation, my chapter explores how Gorkha writing both crystallizes and problematizes postcolonial identities. Gorkhaness hinges on a fulcrum of ambivalence as it seeks to articulate a separate cultural identity away from Nepal and relocate itself within the citizenry and national culture of India. The iconic Darjeeling writer Indra Bahadur Rai narrates Gorkha subjectivity as it attempts to recast itself within the Indian matrix, riddled as it is by ethno-nationalist demands, including the cry for a Gorkhaland. Questions of translation in a transnational context in the Himalayas, I argue, has become the central concern in the writers I discuss. These writings enact a process of ‘alienation and of secondariness in relation to itself”. Rai comes across as a Gorkha nationalist/ethnicist, but the necessary ambivalence of his text ends up imagining and rewriting a more inclusive community.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction. Language, culture and identity 1
- Chapter 1. Philosophy and philosophical practice 7
- Chapter 2. Translation and transnationality in the Himalaya 23
- Chapter 3. North-South relations in linguistic science 43
- Chapter 4. My journey as an indigenous Xinguan teacher and researcher 63
- Chapter 5. The representation-cohesion-stance hypothesis 75
- Chapter 6. A framing-based account of critical cultural awareness 111
- Chapter 7. Cultural “Signs of life” in politics 141
- Chapter 8. Construing the self in discourse 157
- Chapter 9. Embodiment, personification, identity 181
- Chapter 10. Mid hefigum byrþenum 203
- Chapter 11. Cultural and cognitive aspects of narrative 227
- Chapter 12. How can I persuade you without making self-assertions? 249
- Chapter 13. “Keeping up with the times” 275
- Chapter 14. A study of Chinese non-basic color terms from the perspective of cognitive semantics 295
- Index 317
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction. Language, culture and identity 1
- Chapter 1. Philosophy and philosophical practice 7
- Chapter 2. Translation and transnationality in the Himalaya 23
- Chapter 3. North-South relations in linguistic science 43
- Chapter 4. My journey as an indigenous Xinguan teacher and researcher 63
- Chapter 5. The representation-cohesion-stance hypothesis 75
- Chapter 6. A framing-based account of critical cultural awareness 111
- Chapter 7. Cultural “Signs of life” in politics 141
- Chapter 8. Construing the self in discourse 157
- Chapter 9. Embodiment, personification, identity 181
- Chapter 10. Mid hefigum byrþenum 203
- Chapter 11. Cultural and cognitive aspects of narrative 227
- Chapter 12. How can I persuade you without making self-assertions? 249
- Chapter 13. “Keeping up with the times” 275
- Chapter 14. A study of Chinese non-basic color terms from the perspective of cognitive semantics 295
- Index 317
