Theorising Translation At the Level of Discourse Rather Than the Word

To translate Premchand into Tamil (or Tamil into Telugu) is not to translate into a neutral language in the manner of simply exalting, or improving, or diversifying, or nationally integrating. Rather it is entering a charged linguistic-political minefield. How can a translation capture this tension—and it indeed should capture this productive, worldly tension, rather than retreat into the claims of a disinterested high notion of literature. This essay probes the conjunction, ‘national/international’, of the translation of one of the 20th century’s most eminent novelists, Premchand, of the most widely spoken Indian language (Hindustani), into a circulating national object. While the ‘Premchand-translation project’ is a global, multinational object, this essay restricts itself to thinking of the ways of making him and his oeuvre a national object and the inherent challenges.