Uneasy Translations

Uneasy Translations: Self, Experience and Indian Literature interweaves the personal journey of an academic into reflections around self, language and translation with an eye on the intangibly available category of experience. It dwells on quieter modes of being political, of making knowledge democratic and of seeing gendered language in the everyday. In an unusual combination of real-life incidents and textual examples, it provides a palimpsest of what it is to be in a classroom; in the domestic sphere, straddling the 'manyness' of language and, of course, in a constant mode of translation that remains incomplete and unconcluded. Through both a poignant voice and rigorous questions, Kothari asks what it is to live and teach in India as a woman, a multilingual researcher and as both a subject and a rebel of the discipline of English. ­She draws from multiple bhasha texts with an uncompromising eye on their autonomy and intellectual tradition. ­The essays range from questions of knowledge, affect, caste, shame and humiliation to other cultural memories. Translation avoids the arrogance of the original; it has the freedom to say it and not be held accountable, which can make it both risky and exciting. More importantly, it also speaks after (anuvaad) rather than only for or instead, and this ethic informs the way Kothari writes this book, breaking new ground with gentle provocations.

Auteur

Rita Kothari is Professor of English at Ashoka University where she also runs the centre for translation. A distinguished translator, Kothari is also a leading theoretician of translation studies; internationally known for Translating India : The Cultural Politics of English, A Multilingual Nation, and her co-edited books Chutnefying English and Decentring Translation Studies. Her translations of note include Angaliyat : The Stepchild from Gujarati; Unbordered Memories from Sindhi and the Patan Trilogy by K.M.Munshi from Gujarati (in collaboration). Her work on partition and borders intervened to bring the unusual Sindhi experience in books such as The Burden of Refuge and the study of Indo-Pak border region in Memories and Movements. Kothari is a multilingual scholar and her translation interest is manifest in the way she moves between various languages through research and pedagogy. She also writes extensively on language politics, partition, and literary and social traditions of Gujarat and Sindh, and Hindi cinema. Her recent publication is The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told (2022).