• Dr. Ponni Arasu on the importance of literary translations, especially to and from Tamil

Literary work is evidence of the diversity within languages, the people who speak them, and the lands they have roots in. However, language can sometimes be a barrier to sharing culture and heritage through literature, which is why translators play an important role in making literary works more accessible.

Carrying out these crucial task, translating English text to Tamil and vice versa is Dr. Ponni Arasu, an Indian living in Batticaloa. The Daily Morning had the opportunity to speak to her through author and illustrator Sharanya Manivannan, whose book ‘Mermaids in the Moonlight’ Dr. Ponni Arasu translated to Tamil.

Translating the work had certain challenges, Dr. Arasu said, pointing out that the translation of the word mermaid itself had patriarchal connotations, making her turn to a phrase that translated as ‘fish woman’ as opposed to ‘sea virgin’, the usual term.

Dr. Arasu went into detail about the importance of translations, especially in relation to the Tamil language. When asked if translations play a big part in Tamil literature, she said that while classic literature from different languages are translated to Tamil in India, especially through the Sahitya Akademi, these efforts often exclude poetry.

“We don’t see as many translations of poetry from different parts of the world, in different languages, directly or via English into Tamil. That’s something we really need to be building up, because poetry, given all the freedom it gives to a writer, captures the essence of not just the person who is writing the poem but their context, society, and culture in a really fluid and relatively more emancipated way,” she said.

Dr. Arasu touched on the Sri Lankan context, saying it would be incredible if there could be more translations of Sinhala literature to Tamil and vice versa. “The enormous potential of work like that is immeasurable anywhere, but it is especially so in a place like Sri Lanka, where the relationship between the two languages has a contested terrain.”

Following are excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about yourself and what draws you to translations.

I have an intermodal way of working. I’m a researcher, teacher, and artist – primarily a performance artist – and all these practices together feed into a path dedicated to working towards social change and justice. This is what’s important for me and it is what nourishes me.

Along the way, I acquired various qualifications and learnt newer modes of working, namely studying law and practising as a lawyer for a few years in India and more recently, becoming an expressive art therapist, which brings together a lot of my different modalities.

Translation for me exists in this vibrant universe in which I like to live and work. I primarily translate from Tamil to English and vice versa. I’m open to translating anything, but I am definitely more than a bit partial towards translating poetry, because there is a certain beauty and space that emerges from translating poetry that I have found myself enjoying very much.

I mean poetry in the strict sense of the term, but also various fictional writing which is also poetic. For me, ‘Mermaids in the Moonlight’ falls in that category. I’m also interested in translating things that can help us share the beauty of the world across different languages. I’m deeply passionate about the Tamil language, its antiquity, multiplicitous nature, diversity, and persistence, which I find deeply inspiring.

Translation into English, for me, is sharing with the world that essence. And similarly, all cultures and languages have a lot to gain from things that are different from our own and there is just so much beauty in the world. I have access to a lot of that from having learnt the English language and so I’m deeply committed to sharing such beautiful insights with the Tamil speaking world. I would say that’s what really draws me to translation.

What are the challenges associated with this type of work, especially when translating poetry?

The pleasure definitely outweighs the challenges for me, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any challenges. All translations have an enormous responsibility of staying true to the original and keeping its spirit while also translating into another language in a way that is accessible and can touch the spirit of the other language.

For me, that’s the biggest challenge but I really enjoy that challenge. It’s one of the reasons I like to translate.

Translation becomes a window into getting to know different times, places, people, and cultures. With every Tamil text, you get to know a different time, place, and cultural trajectory because we are not a singular, homogenous society. And of course, when you are translating from English to Tamil, English writing can be from so many different cultures, like in the case of ‘Mermaids in the Moonlight’, where you are taken into all these worlds.  I personally then follow up, read, and learn more about those worlds., so for me it’s a really lovely entry point into learning about them.

The main reason to go through that process is precisely to find a balance between keeping the essence of the original while also speaking to the essence of the translated language and creating a text that is accessible and beautiful. I think it’s a very nuanced process.

In more practical terms, it can often be a lonely exercise. There is definitely a need for more spaces where we can meet other translators, share each other’s work, engage in translation in a collective manner, and access resources to do this work. It’s really difficult work and it’s not something one finds resources to support it. All of these would enhance the process a lot more and that’s a very real challenge.

The third challenge is with publication itself. It’s not always easy to publish, especially poetry, and that challenge extends to translated poetry as well, so you do all of this hard work but at the end of it, when you want people to get it out, it can be really heartbreaking. I definitely have been struggling with finding support for translated poetic work and would say it is a very real, very practical challenge.

How do you ensure accuracy when translating from one language to another?

It’s really important to think carefully about what we mean by accuracy and to not collapse accuracy with literalness. That’s a mistake that many translators make. Accuracy is something that has to be thought of along with social-cultural and historical background, towards phrases, and the entire poem or text.

It has to be a very nuanced and layered approach, because without that, we end up with very literal translations that do not work in the translated language nor keep the essence of the source or translated language. Accuracy must be thought through very carefully when it comes to translation and must be layered and nuanced rather than simplistic.

You translated Sharanya Manivannan’s ‘Mermaids in the Moonlight’ from English to Tamil. What drew you to this story?

I first read it literally next to the ocean in Batticaloa and then in the house I live in, which is in front of the lagoon. It was a rewarding experience because being here in this space, looking at what I was looking at, feeling the energy of the nature around me, and reading a book about precisely that lagoon gave me the sense of how beautifully the book captured this energy.

I loved the book and wanted to translate it into Tamil because it starts in a very rooted way in the Batticaloa lagoon and at the same time, it treats these roots as a foundation from which to grow and travel to different parts of the world. For me, as a Tamil person, that was really important: to know that our roots don’t become shackles that hold us down but ones that nourish us so we can access different worlds. This book really does that.

I have chosen to live in Batticaloa and engage with some communities here, including children of friends. My immediate thought when reading ‘Mermaids in the Moonlight’ was that these children need to read about their own lagoon. The education system, class-related hierarchies, and regional differences have made it such that the majority of children here, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, cannot read or write in English fluently. And so the only way for them to access this beauty would be through translation.

This translation is for them. It’s for the generation of children and adults that have come through all the hardships this land has been through, often with little support and a lot of pain, and to this land and its people. I wanted to offer a book that is a testament to the beauty of this land.

Why was it important to tell this story in the language of the region?

It’s really important to put literature out there that emphasises the fact that our roots in our language and lands are ones that nourish us and keep us strong, giving us the foundation from which we can explore the big world out there rather than being ones that shackle us to any specific tiny little context. That’s one reason it’s really important, as it is a book about the lagoon in Batticaloa, but it also tells us about mermaids all over the world in so many different cultures.

For a land that has been through pain, trauma, and rupture, it’s really inspiring and hope-inducing to be able to offer a text like this which doesn’t silence the pain but at the same time highlights the stunning beauty of these lands. I think that’s really important for everyone all over the world, but definitely the people living here and the generations to come. For them to be able to feel that, it needs to be in a language they can read.

Why is it important for stories, especially those by Tamil origin writers, to be translated to Tamil?

It’s important for stories by anybody to be translated into Tamil or any other language, but in my case, I’m invested in translations into my own language and your specific question about writers of Tamil origin and translating their work into Tamil is an important one.

I hope we can see more of that for a few reasons. One is that just like with ‘Mermaids in the Moonlight’ the book may be in English, but the context, background, and roots are within Tamil speaking societies, so it only makes sense that the text makes its way back into that language and its people.

I think there is space for a lot more diversity of voices and newer ways of thinking and speaking about things. Sometimes those who also have access to the English language are able to read more widely and access more ideas from around the world. This shouldn’t be the case. This is a hierarchical structure, and this is one of the reasons I’m a translator.

Given that some really creative, critical emancipatory ideas may come from people of Tamil origin, like myself, who also have access to other languages, then to bring those back into Tamil is a good idea for us as a society. This helps us have a body of literature in which we can root these ideas that are vibrant and new, allowing us to be a culture or a people open to change and able to have a vibrant sense of those concepts, rather than a fixed sense, and aren’t anxiously protecting some fixed idea of our language or culture.

Primarily from Sri Lanka because of the war, but also to some extent from India, there is at least a generation, inching towards a second generation, of Sri Lankan Tamil folks who may not necessarily feel a sense of comfort with the Tamil language. And yet, they are Tamil speaking people and they feel strongly about their culture and identity, so they are going to be writing things.

It would be extremely valuable for writing from this generation to make its way back to the Tamil language, because it’s representative of the paths on which the Tamil speaking people have gone in more recent history. This would be a bringing back home of those ideas, journeys, stories. I think it’s important that we are able to make space within a much broader Tamilness which can help us build a Tamil identity and culture that is emancipatory rather than restrictive.

Are you working on any other translations at the moment?

There are two translations that are currently in process; one is a bilingual multimedia book of poetry and paintings by kamala Vasuki, a well-known feminist activist, visual artist, songwriter, and poet who is originally from Jaffna but has been based in Battocialo for many decades. This book is finished and should be out soon.

It’ll contain her paintings, poetry, and other poetic fiction with some forwards that contextualise the work. The bilingual book is in Tamil and English, which is something I feel very strongly about: that we also have texts that present both languages in the same space so that the book doesn’t restrict itself to either this epistemological universe or that one and bridges the gap between both English speaking audiences and Tamil speaking audiences.

The book is being published by Ethir Veliyeedu, the same publisher as Sharanya Manivannan’s book, and the support of Ethir Veliyeedu’s Anush is much appreciated. The bilingual format is new in Tamil publishing and Anush’s choice to give it space and take a financial risk is commendable.

I’m currently in the uphill task of trying to find a publisher for a poetry collection by well-known Sri Lankan Tamil poet Anar, whose work I have grown up reading and have had the enormous privilege of now being invited to translate.

The hope is that there will be many more poetry collections that I will be translating, written by Tamil speaking Sri Lankans here as well as Sri Lankan Tamil origin writers who may be writing in English, but whose work I’d love to translate to Tamil.