அருந்தமிழும் அன்றாட வழக்கும் – 162
தெலுங்கு / மலையாளம் /வடமொழி வானில்
ஷேக்ஸ்பியரின் சிந்தனை மழை !
முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தில்லிப் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் யான் 28 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு வழங்கிய
முனைவர் பட்ட ஆய்வின் பன்னிரண்டாம் பகுதி வருமாறு:
Anantha Tirupathi Sarma of Birhampur has translated many plays of Shakespeare into Sanskrit.
Some of them have been published in the journal ‘Manorama’ and a few came out in book form, between 1960 &70.
It would not be a hyperbole to say that the person, who had the most impact on the English educated Sanskrit scholars, was Shakespeare, as it is supported by the fact that there are quite a few scholarly works comparing Kalidasa with the Bard or reinterpreting Kalidasa through the Bard.
It is also seen that through and with translation, linguists learn what a language lacks and also learn how to make good this deficiency.
Along with the language, the translator also learns to use new phrases, images and new forms of expression.
Dryden acquired that while translating Virgil, and Pope while translating Homer.
Along with translations, there are also adaptations and an adaption while similar to the original, need not be identical.
Thus, an adaption of Shakespeare would be anything that is Shakesperean.
It may not represent, at times, the actual work of Shakespeare, but it does add to the literature of that language.
Among the south Indian languages, besides Tamil, there have been quite a few translations and adaptations of the well-known plays of Shakespeare.
Shakespeare’s great works in Malayalam started the journey as early as 1866 and today many a Malayali author would agree on the influence of Shakespeare in their writings.
Kainikkara Padmanbha Pillai, Kainikkara Kumara Pillai, EM Kuvoor and Muttathu Varki are just a few names from the long list of those who have been influenced by the Bard’s work.
Likewise, in Telugu, quite a few plays of Shakespeare have been translated. Kandhukoori Veerasalingam Panthalu (1846-1919) has translated The Merchant of Venice (Venisu Varthaka Udhanthalu) and The Comedy of Errors (Samathkara Rathnavalli), which were published in 1880.
Adiphadla Narayanadasu, a scholar and multilinguist, has authored many plays andhas translated many oft-quoted sayings of Shakespeare in Telugu and published them in a book form.
His ‘Navarasa Tarangini’ compares the nine rasas or moods in the works of Kalidasa and Shakespeare and is considered a seminal work in Telugu.
Durba Ramamoorthy (1908-1981), a Lecturer in English in Venkatagiri College, Nellore, has translated Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Telugu.
For centuries after the great dramatic tradition of Sanskrit, drama was regarded merely as a source of entertainment and not as a great literary medium of human expression.
But with the introduction of Shakespeare into India there came a renewed sense of realization that drama was not merely a thing of thrills and laughter but a true mirror of life.
So in a way Shakespeare rekindled the interest in portraying human emotions and holding a mirror to the society using plays.
There are some who seem to suggest that citing an author’s literary debt diminishes his originality.
But originality should not be understood only in terms of innovation or invention.
The original author is not necessarily the innovator or the most inventive, but rather the one who succeeds in subordinating what he takes from others to new heights through his own artistic interpretation.
For example, with the advent of Shakespeare in India, many Tamil playwrights took to Shakespeare and they must be given due credit for identifying what was fine and elegant in him and manipulating it with their own genius and perception.
Direct inter-relationship between literatures exists in a context of the reception and popularity of an author or authors, of one country, in another.
The reception of foreign authors in a particular literature forms a direct and integral part of the literary taste.
For example, an author could be quite popular in one country, but produce no noteworthy effect on the literature of another.
But Shakespeare, as an individual and as an influencer, has exercised a great impact on the Indian Literary scene, especially in Tamil. Imitation came in the form of translations, and influence, in the form of new dramatic types in Indian literature.
Translations play a special role in the transmission of literary influences and often has direct influence than the original work.
When it comes to comparative literature, Shakespeare studies have already been made and these studies fall in to three broad categories – limiting to Tamil here.
1. Works of a general nature tracing Western or English influence on the literature of the Tamils in which Shakespeare’s influence is included as one among many influences
2. Works of a comparative nature tracing the influence of Shakespeare on a particular author or works
3. Works dealing with Shakespeare translations
While these are already available, a fresh look to assess the characteristics of the translations and adaptations of the works of Shakespeare in Tamil will always add to the body of works available and it would be interesting to evaluate their influence on the development of modern Tamil language and literature, on the stage and the screen.
A judicious blend of the methodology of both, translation studies and influence studies, the two major aspects of comparative literature will make the study of influence of the Bard that much more interesting.
– முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தொடர்புக்கு dr.n.arul@gmail.com
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