TRANSLATION OF CLASSICS

TRANSLATION OF CLASSICS

TRANSLATION OF KURUNTOKAI -

THE AKAM VINTAGE CLASSIC

            Man thinks in pictures and the conversion of these visual thoughts into speech is the most intrinsic form of translation activity. Translation thus becomes the mother of language, verbal and non-verbal, because expression of thought involves the unconscious and spontaneous process of translation. This cardinal component of all types of communication is a progressive phenomenon that defies definitions and theories both old and new, because being a creative imitation, translation is more creative than creativity itself.

            Though the intellectual and emotional requisites do not differ greatly from one culture to another, the way individuals perceive and interpret the cultural contexts can differ considerably from one language to another. Hence literary translations not only involve the transference of meaning from one language to another, but also warrant the recreation of cultural situations, though no two cultures interpret the same situations in the same way. Hence translation of texts with their context can be very challenging.

            Translation of poetry is more demanding than the creation of a poem because poetry presents images in order to communicate special feelings, and however concrete the language may be, each image signifies something else. As these images have universal, cultural and personal sources, the translator of poetry cannot make any concession to his reading audience such as transferring the foreign culture to a native equivalent. Hence he is put in a dilemma of deciding whether the expressive or the aesthetic function of a poem is more important. Theories propounded by both creative writer-translators and contemporary theorists of translation highlight the fact that the translation of poetry is not mere transference from one language into other but from poetry into poetry.

            Akam poems have a rich and heavy cultural backdrop, and the poets of akam genre are allowed to articulate powerfully and passionately well within the rigid frame work of akam conventions. Tholkappiyam by codifying rules for the literary produce of the cankam age has also laid down canons controlling the social behaviour of individuals. As a result there is no definite line of demarcation that separates social culture from literary culture. A translator of akam genre hence has to be acutely conscious of the fact that words from an akam verse carry with them the atmosphere and rhythm of a cultural, historical and aesthetic tradition. He should foresee that literary creations which express emotional thoughts and gain rich refinement in Tamil cannot be reproduced with same intensity in English.

            It becomes imperative for the translator of akam literature, here Kuruntokai to repeatedly remind himself that translation of a classical poem is a complex act of sensitive, scholarly reconstruction and interpretation of an emotional text that blends cultural, aesthetic, historical and semantic aspects. Every translator is fundamentally an interpreter, though the latter has to occupy the back seat in the actual process of translation. But, the translator’s inclination to interpret Kuruntokai can help him in recognising that each word in the verse reflects or represents a concept or an emotional landscape. His approach should hence be a sensitive, sensible, and continuous assessment of words as isolated occurrences worth semantic, historical, psychological and cultural boundaries and as they co-exist with other words in the complete context of the given text.

            Words by themselves are harmless and innocent until they gain meanings through their relationships with other words, through their role within the sentence. Hence before venturing into any interpretation of a Kuruntokai text, the translator will have to anticipate the cultural, historical and etymological factors that activate a word within the context of the text. In a poem both the words and the silence of the spaces between the words have meaning and the translator must be prepared to translate the text-behind-the text also.  

            Kuruntokai poets have used words in the most intelligent and imaginative fashion that no word is redundant or irrelevant in its frame of reference. The correctness of the words in their context can cause discomfort to the translator as He realises that he will have to strike a compromise sooner or later with a set of less appropriate words to convey an idea or emotion with the same intensity and immensity. Fallacious and pale renderings are the result of shallow and inadequate comprehension of the ambience with which the words operate. 

            Kuruntokai makes the most effective use of powerful imagery to enhance the emotions exhibited in various contexts. Enriched with a variety of similes, Kuruntokai commissions the imagery to capture every delicate shade of human experience. Implicit comparisons, metaphors and similes are the intrinsic part of the syntax order of a Kuruntokai verse. They are not employed as embellishments and hence the translator should be extremely careful while translating these poetic techniques. As the Kuruntokai poems are both sign bound, any lack of logical harmony between the elements of the sentence May come out glaringly.

            Ullurai, simile, metaphor and other carefully conceived and highly perfected literary techniques are employed for the specific purpose of communicating completely and convincingly the powerful private human experience, which are unique and universal. The translators will have to be clear and thorough with the literary conventions that operate in the akam genre, if they wish to improve their versions qualitatively.

            While translating a Kuruntokai verse, the translator will find himself continuously at work in a problem-solving atmosphere because he will have to draw information from various disciplines in order to do justice to the specific textual situation presented in the verse. In His process of recreating the textual situation as a totality into the cultural context of a new language, he will have to have his contemporary ears well tuned to the voice of the poet of antiquity.

            The Kuruntokai poets have logic and reason behind their careful arrangement of ideas. Their poetic thoughts are conceived in poetic forms which make matter and manner interdependent, sometimes even inseparable. While transferring a human experience into an art experience, emotions become the operation force of the “being” of the poem. Hence the sequence of thought presented in the original becomes extremely significant in the effective communications of the emotion. Insensitive shuffling of essential ideas, indiscriminate use of formats that hinder the spirit of the poem through their spatial arrangements, insufficient knowledge of akam conventions and inadequate insight into the psychology of the akam persona, distort tremendously the quintessence of the Kuruntokai verse.

            Transporting a Kuruntokai verse through the process of translation to a foreign reading audience with minimal detriment to the purport of the poem, is no doubt a very challenging literary mission. If the readers are unfamiliar with the complex cultural background of the original, then the situation warrants not only scholarship but also sensitivity. Kuruntokai poems articulate human emotions though no emotion is directly describable. Hence the translator should equip himself adequately to translate “rasa –kavyd”, where the central feature of context is an emotion. The untranslatable aspect of the akam poems will prompt the translator to make compromises in the form of additions and omissions. But no translator loyal to the art experience of the original will resort to additions and omissions without concrete reasons because he is expected to be sensitive to the inviolability and solemnity of literary masterpieces

            Translators of classical literature helplessly count on the modern commentaries which are readily available, and stay dangerously loyal to the interpretations of the commentators. Most often they tend to follow blindly the commentators without even attempting to verify the accuracy of their statements. The translators will have to be adequately learned in akam conventions as laid down by Tolkappiyam, and should be familiar with the various commentaries on this grammar treatise. Rigorous verification of the facts and suggestions presented by the commentators is very important to ensure correct comprehension of the text.
Turai and tinai sometimes vary from one commentator to another, and hence depending on just one or two commentators for thorough understanding of the text will prove too costly a risk from the translators’ point of view. Most of the factors that lead to faulty translations are easily identifiable and so avoidable, if the translator develops an earnest interest in enriching his comprehension of the classics through exposition to as many interpretations as possible. Ignorance of textual variations is too weak an excuse to save the translator from the offence of projecting akam verses wrongly. Failing to keep in mind the spirit of the poem and its emotional implication will promote misunderstanding of certain words and phrases. Sustained scholarship, acumen, perception, powerful vocabulary, rich imagination and sensitivity to the spirit of the original would have saved many of the English renderings of the Kuruntokai versions from the negative shifts that lead to incorrect translations. Wrongly projected renderings, spoiled verses and bad translations are the direct produce of the callous attitude of the translators.

            Translation of an akam classic is no easy task, and staying ever alive to the ardour of the passion audible in the voice of the speaker is of utmost importance.
Each Kuruntokai poem is filled with fervour felt by individuals who lived two thousand years ago but their voices of love and lament, adulation and agony, concern and caprice, passion and perfidy still find echoes in the hearts of hundreds of readers. In spite of all the challenges an akam classic like Kuruntokai is worth the pains of “translation” in the real sense and spirit of the word, offering brilliant scope for avid translators of the future because it is the most commendable and virtuous way of acknowledging the rich literary plethora of a rare race.