The Medium of Knowledge Exchange
The Medium of Knowledge Exchange
Translation is one of the most significant sources of any country's literature and knowledge. Bangladesh has been translating global literature into Bengali from long since. One of the pioneers of literary translation is Syed Shamsul Haque who has translated Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen. But translation of Bengali literature into English and other languages is a task which has been practiced rarely in Bangladesh. Dhaka Translation Centre has come forward in this regard and with notable successes it has also faced a lot of challenges.
At the Hay Festival, Dhaka 2014, Kate Griffin of the British Centre for Literary Translation moderated a session with renowned poet Kaiser Haq, authors Shaheen Akhtar and Arunava Sinha on literary translation. Translation of literature is no less challenging than creating something new. The translator is largely responsible for inhaling the essence of original literature and for transmitting it to its readers of other languages.
Arunava Sinha a well known literary translator from India ‘says, ‘When I seek permission for translating the works of established and renowned writers they allow me with rather reluctant voice saying, 'well, if you want you can translate it but I am not sure whether it will be very good.' This offers me a big challenge and learning session. Again young writers are very enthusiastic. They are a source of great encouragement for me.”
When Kate points out the present condition of literary translation in Bangladesh, comments from Kaiser Haq and Shaheen Akhtar reveals the real challenges of translation of Bengali literature into English. Kaiser Haq says, “One of the challenges of translating Bengali literature into English is that in Bangladesh we have no tradition of editing. The manuscript goes to the press straight from the writer's desk. In these cases, translator's collaboration with the writer is essential. Lack of resource persons is also a big challenge in this regard.”
However, civilization owes a lot to translation of literature and academic books. Much of western civilizations have developed themselves by translating the literary jewels of eastern nations. We find in Kate Griffin's comment that they have been continuing this process. She says, “In the UK we mostly translate foreign literature into English as we know that most of our writers have been translated into different languages around the world already.”
Translation is the process through which we can present our literature to the world. It is also the process which will enrich us by being updated with global trends and tradition. Investment in this sector is now a crying need.