The book release of For Now, It Is Night, a collection of short stories by Hari Krishna Kaul translated from the Kashmiri by Kalpana Raina, Tanveer Ajsi, Gowhar Fazili & Gowhar Yaqoob was held on the 24th of November, 2023. The conversation revolved around the intersection of Ethnography, Literature and Translation.
The book consists of a series of short, bizarre stories that delve into the grittiness of the daily that seems to have a profound resonance with the readers. Translating literature is a complex and multifaceted endeavour with far-reaching repercussions. On the one hand, it has the potential to bridge cultural divides, expand horizons, and enrich literary traditions. By opening up access to works from other languages and cultures, translation can foster understanding, appreciation, and cross-cultural dialogue. It can also introduce new ideas, literary forms, and perspectives to a target audience, stimulating creativity and innovation within the receiving culture.
However, the process of translation is also fraught with challenges and potential pitfalls. The inherent ambiguity and nuances of language, coupled with the cultural and historical contexts of literary works, make it difficult to achieve a perfectly faithful and accurate translation. Moreover, the selection of works for translation can have significant implications for the representation and reception of a particular literature.
The history and politics of the task of translation stem as far back as the Rosetta stone, an edict in Memphis, Egypt. The three versions were written in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts, respectively, and Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences between the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts. The Bible is also a translation from Hebrew and Greek, with many words and phrases that were left open to interpretation while converting to other languages. One of the most striking features of Michelangelo's Moses is the pair of horns that protrude from his forehead. This unusual depiction of Moses is often attributed to a mistranslation of the Hebrew Bible into the Vulgate, the Latin translation that was used by the Catholic Church during the Renaissance.
Essentially, we live in a world which is consistently in translation, and Kaul’s translated work should be seen as part of our everyday life, and how we are constantly living through translation. Ultimately, one can only gain from translation, for there is nothing to lose in the broader scheme of things (even Moses gained horns, after all). In fact, in this book particularly, the permeation of tactile-ness was not only gained in translation but improved on. The translators and panel discussion really delved into ensuring the audience that there is more to take away from translation than there is to lose while doing so.
This book covers only seventeen stories, while there are actually forty-five that were translated. There are different genres and allegories and fables, trying to show us that when things are chaotic, allegories and fables seem to bring a sense of meaning and stability to life. The panellists spoke about how Kaul was adamant about the fact that he was not writing for a translated audience but for the people of Kashmir. He had no appetite to satiate people outside Srinagar and was for the simple stories the mundane, everyday-ness of Kashmir.
The craft of the short story involves articulation and non-articulation, and translating it makes that an ever harder craft to improve on. The reader will see it as a gain, appreciating the fact that prose and poetry are now more accessible, while the translator is haunted by the loss of not being able to perfectly articulate the words and feelings of the original. Or perhaps the translator has far too much power to be able to transform the original to something that will attract more readers than the original and can influence the reader much more than the original author. With translation come the biases and strengths of the translators, and while that is a dangerous thread to pull at, there is the idea of hearing each other’s stories and staying with each other’s words that makes it acceptable, to a degree.
Through the discussion, it is understood that translating literature is a double-edged sword. It has the potential to promote cross-cultural understanding and enrich literary traditions, but it also poses challenges of fidelity, interpretation, and representation. The translation process is inherently subjective and shaped by cultural, political and historical factors, making it essential to critically evaluate the choices made by translators and publishers. The book does a wonderful job of expressing and maintaining Kaul’s main idea and vision, and hopefully, the book gains the traction it deserves.
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