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Between Two Worlds: Punjabi Short Stories edited by S. P. Singh and translated by Rita Chaudhury and Harbir S. Manku. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Pages 175. Rs 175.
Between Two Worlds is its most recent addition to the growing corpus of literary translations. A collection of fourteen short stories of writers from Punjabi diaspora, dispersed across England, Canada and the US, this collection is apparently quite ambitious in its scope and range. Despite that, it manages to give fair representation to major voices in short fiction emerging out of a certain section of the Punjabi diaspora. If there is a criterion for reading or judging a work of translation, it’s simply this: that a translated text should be able to stand on its own. Though an intertext, such a text must set up ats own parameters of assessment/evaluation strictly within the target language. After all, it has to be read only by those who have no access to the original. To an extent, Between Two Worlds does come across as a modestly successful effort. Before the quality of translations is qualitatively assessed, some of the theoretical issues need to be underlined. While defining the concept of the Punjabi diaspora, the editor conceptualises it in the broadest sense possible, saying that it is "spread across Britain, Canada, America, Singapore, Dubai, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, and Switzerland". But somehow the selection of the stories points toward a much narrower canvas. One wonders if the presence of one or two writers in some of these countries is a reason enough for them to be included within the ambit of Punjabi diaspora. Or for that matter, if a couple of stories are enough to establish the credentials of some as writers, or as representative writers. One also wonders, why no effort has been made to explain the logic and/or politics of exclusion/inclusion governing this particular anthology. Though arbitrary, the selection is fairly impressive in its range of subject matter and style(s). However, some of the stories included here, such as The Twin Shores and A Tragic Tale From Alien Shores, are already available in the English translation. The editor’s efforts at usurping the space of the translators, allowing them only the privilege of a brief, sketchy note, do appear somewhat appalling, but the translators have measured up to their claim of seeking to "strike a balance between faithful and free rendering of the original text" rather well. The translations are, indeed, fluid, competent and efficient. Only occasionally, expressions such as "mate" for "bai" or Indianisms such as "Please write to me by return post," strike a jarring note. Otherwise, most of the pitfalls of "literalism" have been scrupulously avoided. All said and done, Between the Worlds, is an important addition to the repertoire of the Punjabi diaspora available in the English language. Readers of all shades are likely to read this anthology with both profit and delight, though with vastly different conclusions. |
Often,
the university presses in our context are known for peddling only
textbooks and/or research-oriented books and monographs, but Punjabi
University, Patiala, has now, for quite some time, been engaged in this
laudable enterprise of promoting English translations of significant
Punjabi literary works. Of late, Guru Nanak Dev University has also
joined in, giving a real boost to the translation activity within the
academia.