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Translocating the Subject

The Re- Sited Structures of O. V. Vijayan’s Translations

Introduction

Translocating the Subject: The Re- Sited Structures of O. V. Vijayan’s Translations

problematizes O. V. Vijayan’s novel translations in this new global locality. This is a new aspect

that is gaining focus in the field of world literary translation studies. Hence this is an attempt to

initiate fresh discussions on the link between translation and globalization in the translations by

OV Vijayan (1930- 2005), one of the key figures in Malayalam literature.

New Canonization

Translations and globalization attempt to remove cultural-lingual barriers but with different

modus operandi, which generally means translations is to provide a new understanding on a

new culture and language where as globalization is to reduce the differences in the different

cultures as well as the languages. Thus the ‘glocal village’ demands new connotations for

Translations. A text can be written in a more foreignized/ eroticized manner due to the

corroborative advantages of the globalization and its technology. The responsibility of a

translator in the postcolonial era is more distinctive one with its cultural denotations along with

the linguistic demands. The translator has the power to construct the image of the literature as

well as the culture within the evolving global context. Translation is a process of rewriting of the

lingo-cultural representations into another, which always entails an unstable relationship in terms

of the power which one culture may exercise over another. With its political-ideological

discursive mission the translation process forces the translator as a social agent with an explicit

ideological positioning. Within these contexts the current discussion is to find out the

ideological positioning of Vijayan as a translocator.

Translating of the Self / Translocating the Subject

This study starts with an assumption that Vijayan is a translocator of the ‘subject’ both as the

doer (subject) and the dependent (object) according to the different contexts of translation. It is

to re- site his new role as a translocator in its local connotation as a subject of his art as well as in
its global connotation as the objects of his art from the perspectives of a native user of the Source

language, who can easily recognize the lapses or additions or even the rewriting of concepts

undertaken by the author/ translator, a kind of attempt- translating the translator. Through

translation, transferring a culture incorporates a phenomenon familiarity of the Source text to

foreignness of the Target text; however globalization decreases the element of foreignness, by

keeping more of the source text in the translation, i.e., create a target text that is less foreign for

the source culture. In this context the re- positioning the author and his works demands a search

for the relevance of existing tools used in the available translated text(s) and the new measures

should apply for a new critical reading of it.

Searching for Significance

O. V. Vijayan is a “transcreator” of his own works like the Nobel laureate Tagore which

shows his ability to preserve the meaning and imagery of the original with the nuances of the

target language. However for him so much has been lost in the translation and there was no way

it could have been salvaged. The translated title for Dharmapuraanam as Saga of Dharmapuri is

just an example to illustrate the difficulty of translating the different resonances and the

languages are far removed from each other as cultural experiences. Here the enquiry extends to

his attraction towards the “political hegemony” of the English language too.

Foreignization/ Exoticization

The globalization has tremendously helped to facilitate the task of the translator by way

of foreignization instead of an explanatory translation. Here globalization is a process that allows

cultures to collaborate and interact with flexibility. Translation is the key to understanding and

learning foreign cultures. On the other hand globalization a killer of other languages and

cultures, too.

Among the two translating strategies: domestication and foreignization, Venuti considers

domestication as dominating Anglo-American translation culture which involves reduction of the

foreign text to the target language cultural values. This entails translating in a transparent, fluent,

invisible style in order to minimize the foreignness of the target text. But Foreignization,
developing a translation method that excluded by the dominant cultural values in the target

language, an ethno- deviant pressure on target language cultural values to register the linguistic

and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad, an effort to restrain the

ethnocentric violence of translation. He termed it as “resistancy”, is a non-fluent or estranging

translation style designed to make visible the persistence of the translator by highlighting the

foreign identity of the source text and protecting it from the ideological dominance of the target

culture. Later on Venuti came with another term “minoritizing” translation, to cultivate a varied

and heterogeneous discourse, a deliberate inclusion of foreignizing elements in a bid to make the

translator visible and to make the reader realize that he is reading a translation of the work from

a foreign culture. Foreignization is close by adheres to the source text structure and syntax.

In the context of globalization the text can be written in a more foreignizing/ eroticizing

manner. There is a relatively new trend wherein culturally bound elements (some, one might say,

untranslatable), are not translated. This trend contributes to learning and understanding foreign

cultures, which makes it more exotic and thus more interesting for those who want to learn more

about the culture in question. Eventually, these new words may find their way into target

language dictionaries.

As a Translator Vijayan has brought three options for his attempt of Translocating the

Malayalee ethos: adopting the foreign word without any explanation (see the name ‘Appu Kili’);

adopting the foreign word with extensive explanation; rewriting the text to make it more

comprehensible to the- target language audience(see the titles such as The Legends of Khasak;

instead of its Malayalam title; Khasakinte Ithihasm or “The Saga of Dharmapuri”; originally it is

Dharmapuraanam or “Infinity of Grace”; here the original title is Gurusagaram )

Conclusion

In its Postcolonial terms, translation has sometimes been used by dominated natives to

form a resistance in the face of hegemonic cultural assaults. For Vijayan, it is also a same kind of

resistance. It is just a damaging instrument of the colonizers to impose their language and use

translation to construct a distorted image of the suppressed people which served to reinforce the
hierarchal structure of the colony. The fixity elements in the source language and its components

as well as flexibility in the target language and its nuances are important in translation. O. V.

Vijayan brought out his texts into English, as reward to the target a new aesthetical sensibility.

Through that he translocated his subjectivity into the target language. So this is a foray into

Vijayan’s re- citations, and is re- sites their significance within the arena of globalization as well

as postcolonialism.

This synopsis-summary is prepared for the doctoral committee interview held on 6th Jan 2008 by Thomas Zachariah.

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