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Translation, Tradition and Intertextuality
Author(s) -
Komalesha H. S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/oli.12031
Subject(s) - intertextuality , mediocrity principle , literature , situated , linguistics , kannada , dialectic , philosophy , art , epistemology , computer science , physics , artificial intelligence , astrobiology
Behind the making of a great work, in any language, there is a significant contribution from intertextual elements. Textual dialectics – a result of the interplay of multiple texts within a text – plays a major role in converting an otherwise ordinary work into a canonical work. It is in this sense that Eliot wrote that appreciation of any art is invariably an appreciation of the entire artistic tradition in which the new art is situated. When a translator chooses to translate such works in which there is a rich interplay of intertextual elements, he is invariably left with no better option than to bring in these elements, lest he should run the risk of reducing classics to works of mediocrity. In this process of translating intertextual elements, what problems does a translator encounter and what strategies does he adopt to overcome them? This paper attempts to explore the intricate and organic relationship that exists between translation, tradition and intertextuality against the backdrop of my English translation of Sankranti , a classic Kannada play written by P. Lankesh, one of the gifted writers of the Kannada world.