This Presentation Based on “Translation and Literary History_ An Indian View” Ganesh Devy.

1. “Translation and Literary History:
An Indian View”
-Ganesh Devy
-Prepared by Mansi Gujadiya and Nirali Dabhi

2. Academic Information
Name :-Nirali Dabhi
Roll No.:- 13
Enrollment No.:-4069206420220006
Email I’D :- niralidabhi95@gmail.com
Name :-Mansi Gujadiya
Roll No.:- 12
Enrollment No.:-4069206420220013
Email I’D :-mansigajjar10131@gmail.com
Sem:-4 (M.A)
Paper No.:-208
Paper Code:-22415
Paper Name:-Comparative Literature & Translation
Studies
Topic:-Translation and Literary History: An Indian View”
Submitted to:- Department of English

3. Bullet Points
The Origin
01.
Key Arguments
03. Role of Translation
02.
Conclusion
05.
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Analysis
04.
06.
Introduction of Author
Abstract
07.

4. ● "Translation and Literary History: An Indian View" by Ganesh
Devy, explored the intricate relationship between translation, literary
history, and the cultural context of India. The article delves into the
Western metaphysical perspective on translation, highlighting the
challenges it poses to understanding literary traditions.
● Devy discusses the vital role translation plays in the evolution of
literary movements across linguistic borders, emphasizing its
significance in shaping Indian English Literature and other global
literary traditions. The abstract sets the stage for an in-depth
analysis of the aesthetics and complexities of literary translation in
the context of Indian metaphysics.
Abstract

5. Key Points
● Many literary traditions originate in translation -
Anglo-Irish, Indian English, settler colonies.
● Literary History and Translation
● Roman Jakobson
● Language as a System of Sign
● 'Translating consciousness' in India
● J.C. Catford - Linguistics of Translation
● The Problems in Translation Study

6. Ganesh Devy
● Full Name:- Ganesh Narayandas Devy
● He is distinguished Indian critic, thinker, educator, and activist.
● He is a Professor of English at Maharaja Sayajirao University of
Baroda.
❖ Publications:-
● "In Another Tongue" (1993)
● "Of Many Heroes" (1998)
● Book:-
● "The Crisis Within: Knowledge and Education in India" (2017)

7. The Origin

8. ● According to J. Hillis Miller ‘Translation is the wandering existence
of a text in a perpetual exile’.
● Christian myth of the Fall, exile and wandering.
● Christian Myth : Post- Babel crisis
● In Western metaphysics translation is an exile, a fall from the origin;
and the mythical exile is a metaphoric translation, a post- Babel crisis.
● No critic has taken any well-defined position about the exact
placement of translations in literary history.

9. Role of
Translation

10. ● Translation of Bible - Revolutionary event in the history of English Style.
● Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' - Translating Style of Boccaccio.
● Dryden & Pope used the tool of translation to recover a sense of order.
● Role of translation during last two century.
● Indian English Literature - Indological activity of translation during late 18th
& 19th century.
● Since translations are perceived as unoriginal, not much thought has been
devoted to aesthetics of translation.
● Issues relating 'Form' and 'Meaning' haven't been settled in relation to
translation.
● Do they belong to the history of the 'T' language or 'S' language?
● Do they form an independent tradition all by themselves?
● This haphazard activity devotes too much energy discussing problems of
conveying the original meaning in the altered structure.

11. Key Arguments

12. ❖ Roman Jakobson
Roman Jakobson in his essay on the linguistics of translation proposed a threefold
classification of translations:
● (a) Those from one verbal order to another verbal order within the same language
system
● (b) Those from one language system to another language system
● (c) Those from a verbal order to another system of signs (Jakobson, 1959, pp.232– 9).
● Chomsky's linguistic framework emphasizes semantic universals but pushes
the limits of Saussurean linguistic materialism. In translation, SL and TL are
seen as part of a broader spectrum, challenging structuralist views. The West
struggles with synonymy due to a lack of recognition of non-systemic
elements. The absence of a multilingual perspective leads to an overemphasis
on synonymy in Western translation thought.
❖ Chomsky

13. J.C. Catford: A Linguistics Theory of Translation
● In "A Linguistic Theory of Translation," J.C. Catford provides a
comprehensive theoretical framework for the linguistics of translation.
● “Translation is an operation performed on languages: a process of
substituting a text in one language for a text in another; clearly, then, any
theory of translation must draw upon a theory of language – a general
linguistic theory”.
● Catford's work is considered foundational in linguistic translation theory.
● He emphasizes the systematic nature of translation, seeking to break it
down into manageable units and processes.

14. ● His approach raises questions about the role of cultural and historical
context in shaping translation choices.
● He argues that understanding translation requires a strong foundation in
linguistics.
● He proposes basing translation theory on broader linguistic principles,
not isolated from general language study.
● Catford identifies different levels of translation, requiring substitutions at
various linguistic units.
● He acknowledges the link between linguistics and anthropology,
particularly post-Durkheim and Lévi-Strauss.
● Catford critiques the eurocentric view of knowledge, where fields like
Orientalism and anthropology were assigned to non-European studies.

15. Analysis

16. ● During the nineteenth century, Europe had distributed various fields
of humanistic knowledge into a threefold hierarchy:
1. Comparative studies for Europe
2. Orientation for the Orient
3. Anthropology for the rest of the World
● After the Discovery of Sanskrit by Sir William Jones historical
linguistics in europe depended heavily on orientalism.
● After Saussure and Levi-Strauss linguistics started treating
language with an anthropological curiosity.

17. ● Translation involves aesthetics and ideology, influencing literary history.
● It's not just copying a text; it's about reproducing an ordered sub-system of
signs in a related language.
● Translation doesn't transpose meaning; the original work maintains its
position.
● The goal is to revitalize the original in a new verbal and temporal context.
● Translation both approximates and transcends the original, akin to how
literary texts endure through diverse periods and styles.
The Problems in Translation Study

18. Continue…
● They are the problems of the relationship between origins and sequentiality.
● Translation study so in literary history, the problem of origin has not been
tackled satisfactorily.
● The point that needs to be made is that probably the question of origins of
● Literary traditions will have to be viewed differently by literary communities
with ‘Translating Consciousness’.
● Indian literary communities, exemplified by figures like Jayadeva,
Hemchandra, Michael Madhusudan Dutta, H.N. Apte, or Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee, showcase a translating consciousness.
● The foundation of modern Indian literatures was laid through acts of
translation, highlighting the vital role of translation in shaping literary
traditions.

19. Conclusion

20. ● Comparative literature means that there are regions of significance that are
shared across two related languages, as well as areas of significance that can
never be shared.
● When the soul passes from one body to another, it does not lose any of its
essential significance. Indian philosophies of the relationship between form
and essence, structure and significance are guided by this metaphysics.
● The true test is the writer's capacity to transform, to translate, to restate,
to revitalize the original. And in that sense Indian literary traditions are
essentially traditions of translation.

21. References
● Catford, J. C. A Linguistic Theory of Translation: An Essay
in Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press, 1965.
● Devy, G. N. "Literary History and Translation: An Indian
View." Traduction Et Post-Colonialisme En Inde
Translation and Postcolonialism: India, vol. 42, no. 2,
2002, pp. 395-
406.,https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/meta/1997-v42-
n2-meta175/002560ar.pdf
● Jakobson, Roman. "On Linguistic Aspects of Translation".
On Translation, edited by Reuben Arthur Brower,
Cambridge, MA and London, England: 2013,Press,pp.
Harvard University
https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674731615.c18

22. Thank you