Perumal Murugan, lost in translation
The festival attempts to explore the idea of a translator as an artist in his or her own right.
Bengaluru: The 5th edition of Lekhana — Bangalore's Literary weekend took off to a compelling start at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) on Wednesday, focussing on subaltern language and cultures, their translations and publishing. Vastly unlike the large-scale events to which India has become accustomed, Lekhana unfolded before an intimate gathering, amongst whom writers like Vivek Shanbag, Perumal Murugan and Girish Karnad mingled freely.
Designed more for an academic bent than attracting large crowds, the festival attempts to explore the idea of a translator as an artist in his or her own right.
As S. Diwakar, who translated works by the legendary William Faulkner into Kannada, puts it: “A language really grows when works are translated into it. When I was translating Faulkner, his serpentine had no means of ordinary representation. I had to invent a syntax in Kannada, something that has never been done and there increases its wealth.”
Indeed, language was a barrier that could not be transcended in the case of writer Perumal Murugan, author of One Part Woman, the story of a lower caste couple unable to bear children, the book that was withdrawn after widespread criticism. Despite being the cynosure of all eyes, the Tamil speaking Murugan, who was being simultaneously translated into English found the audience slipping away when it came to the question and answer session, until, he too, was seen walking away from the venue!