By Abu Hamza
While doing literary translation we come across several types of texts. Some are quite easy and simple one only we have to follow the word order and structure of the original text and convert it to the target language. See the following literary text from a short story of Saadat Hasan Manto that is called “Anar kali”
نام اُس کا سلیم تھا مگر اس کے یار دوست اسے شہزادہ سلیم کہتے تھے۔ غالباً اس لیے کہ اس کے خدو خال مغلئی تھے خوبصورت تھا۔ چال ڈھال سے رعونت ٹپکتی تھی۔
اس کا باپ پی ڈبلیو ڈی کے دفتر میں ملازم تھا۔ تنخواہ زیادہ سے زیادہ سو روپے ہوگی مگر بڑے ٹھاٹ سے رہتا ظاہر ہے کہ رشوت کھاتا تھا یہی وجہ ہے کہ سلیم اچھے سے اچھا کپڑا پہنتا جیب خرچ بھی اُس کو کافی ملتا اس لیے کہ وہ اپنے والدین کا اکلوتا لڑکا تھا۔
جب کالج میں تھا تو کئی لڑکیاں اس پر جان چھڑکتیں تھیں مگر وہ بے اعتنائی برتتا ٗ آخر اُس کی آنکھ ایک شوخ و شنگ لڑکی جس کا نام سیما تھا، لڑ گئی۔ سلیم نے اُس سے راہ و رسم پیدا کرنا چاہا۔ اُسے یقین تھا کہ وہ اُس کی التفات حاصل کرلے گا نہیں وہ تو یہاں تک سمجھتا تھا کہ سیما اس کے قدموں پر گر پڑے گی اور اس کی ممنون و متشکر ہوگی کہ اُس نے محبت کی نگاہوں سے اُسے دیکھا۔
His name was Saleem but his friends called him Prince Saleem. Probably because his body structure looks like Mughals and he was handsome. Arrogance appears from his characters and conducts.
Her father was employed in the PWD office. The maximum salary would be 100 rupees, but he lived in luxury. Obviously, he used to take bribes. That’s why Saleem used to wear the best clothes and got enough money for pocket expenses because he was the only son of his parents.
When he was in college, many girls were attracted to him, but he was ignoring them; in the end, his eye fell on a beautiful and bright girl named Seema. Saleem wanted to create a connection with her. He was sure that he would not only get her attention but he also thought that Seema would fall at his feet and she would be grateful that he saw him with loving eyes.
While doing the translation of the above text only we have to follow the structure and convey the meaning of the original text. Some structures can’t be translated with the same emotions that the original one has. For example, we have رعونت ٹپکتی تھی that can’t be translated with the same emotion and feeling that this sentence has, but I tried the nearest meaning “Arrogance appears”. The other word is جان چھڑکتیں تھیں here I tried to translate it into the nearest meaning “attracted”. The next word is راہ و رسم پیدا کرنا and I have translated it into “to create connection”. The biggest challenge while doing the literary translation is to put the same emotion and flavor that the original text has.
Some literary texts consist of local word structures. The translation of these types of text is quite difficult because every language has a different style of expression as we can see in the text below:
The following text is from a short story written by Munshi Premchand “Pus ki Raat”
ہلکو نے آکر اپنی بیوی سے کہا،’’شہنا آیا ہے لائو جو روپے رکھے ہیں اسے دے دو کسی طرح گردن تو چھوٹے۔‘‘
منی بہو جھاڑو لگارہی تھی ۔ پیچھے پھرکر بولی’’تین ہی تو روپے ہیں دے دوں ، تو کمبل کہاں سے آئے گا ۔ ماگھ پوس کی رات کھیت میں کیسے کٹے گی۔ اس سے کہہ دو فصل پرروپے دے دیں گے۔ابھی نہیں ہے۔‘‘
Halko came and said to his wife, "Shehna has come. Bring the money you have. Give it to him. Somehow our burden will be over."
Daughter-in-law Munni was sweeping. She turned around and said, "I have only three rupees, how I will give him, then wherefrom the blanket will come?" How we will spend the night of Magh Pus in the field? Tell him we will pay in the time of crops. Not now."
Magh Pus: name of the months in Hindi
Some literary texts consist of local cultural structures. The translation of these types of text is quite difficult and need a proper understanding of the culture and rituals because every language represents its culture and tradition as we can see in the text below:
The following text is from a short story written by Munshi Premchand “Eid Gah”
رمضان کے پورے تیس روزوں کے بعد آج عید آئی کتنی سہانی اور رنگین صبح ہے بچہ کی طرح پر تبسّم درختوں پر کچھ عجیب ہریالی ہے۔ کھیتوں میں کچھ عجیب رونق ہے آسمان پر کچھ عجیب فضا ہے، آج کا آفتاب دیکھ کتنا پیارا ہے گویا دنیا کو عید کی خوشی پر مبارک باد دے رہا ہے، گائوں میں کتنی چہل پہل ہے۔ عید گاہ جانے کی دھوم ہے کسی کے کرتے میں بٹن نہیں ہیں تو سوئی تاگا لینے دوڑا جارہا ہے۔ کسی کے جوتے سخت ہوگئے ہیں ۔ اسے تیل اور پانی سے نرم کررہا ہے
What a beautiful and colorful morning Eid has brought today after the full thirty days fasting of Ramadan. There is some strange greenery on the trees like a smile on the face of a child. There is some strange beauty in the fields; there is some strange atmosphere in the sky, how lovely it is to see today's sun as if it is congratulating the world on the joy of Eid, how much activities are there in the villages. There is a rush to go to Eid Gah. If there are no buttons in one's kurta, one is running to get a needle to sew it. Someone's shoes are stiff and he is softening it with oil and water.
Eid Gah: A place where Muslims Pray Eid prayers
Kurta: Man’s long dress
While doing the literary translation we try to be close to the original text as much as possible, but sometimes we find some words that are very difficult to be translated so we can convey the meaning, and sometimes we use the same word and explain the meaning of the word in the footnote so that the beauty of the structure remains unchanged and the reader can get the meaning looking into the footnote. In some cases, we also to polish the translation so that the reader will get the real flavor and it will not look like a translation. In this process, we add some words and even omit if the meaning of the text will not change.
Some strategies that can be used while dealing with literary translation.
Amplification or paraphrasing
This technique is all about paraphrasing the sentences that have no equivalent in the target language, we use it to explain the words and structures that have no equivalent.
Borrowing
Borrowing is the technique that enriches the language, in this process; we borrow the words from the original text and use it in the target language without any modification. For example, we do the translation of the text that has some words like Jilebi, Samosa, Panipuri, etc so we borrow these words from the original text and use it in the target language without any modification and changes.
Domestication or localization
Literature shows the culture and practices of the local people and while doing the translation we come across some texts that are very local and domestic, so while dealing with these types of text we have to very careful and have the knowledge of the local culture and traditions. Localization is a process in which we address the local culture and tradition and try to translate in a way that looks like its original local content.
Conclusion
Literary translation is not just converting the text from one language to another language. While dealing with the literary translation we can see different types of texts and we have to follow strategies according to the situation demand. Sometimes we have to be very creative to convey the meaning, sometimes we have to just convert the text from one language to another one. We have to follow different strategies to meet the demand of the original text.
