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List of contents
Contributors. Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction 1. Semi-machi(a) Nations and Translation: India, 1500 to 1900 2. The Metamorphosis of Tamil–English Lexicography: Dictionaries by Foreign Missionaries in the Period 1750–1900 3. The Politics, Problems and the Beauties of Translating ‘The Holy Bible’ 4. On Translating Moral and Ethical Texts from Tamil to English 5. Literary Daughters and their Lineage: A Study of the Novels Saguna and Kamala by Krupabai Satthianadhan In English and in Tamil Translation. Afterword. Bibliography
About the author
C. T. Indra is former Professor of English and former Chair of the Department of English, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India where she taught for over three decades. She was member of the Curriculum Development Council of UGC for English. She was the recipient of the British Council Translation award (1988) and the Katha award (1994). She was Coordinator and one of the translators in the British Council-sponsored project Representations of the West in South Indian short stories, subsequently published as Routes (2000). Her translations from Tamil include Legend of Nandan (Indira Parthasarathy’s play, 2003), Cross Section (Sivakami’s novel, 2014, with Prema Jagannathan).
R. Rajagopalan is former Reader in English, Presidency College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and has served in state government educational institutions. He writes short stories and poetry in Tamil and translates as well. He has received the Tiruppur Tamil Chankam poetry award and Thisai Ettum translation award. He was associated with and contributed to leading little magazines in Tamil such as ‘Zha’, ‘Gavanam’, besides ‘Kachadathapara’. He has republished Krupabai Satthianadhan’s pioneering feminist novels Kamala and Saguna. He was part of the Tamil group and one of the translators for the British Council project published as Routes (2000). He has edited the works of modernist Tamil poets such as Gnanakoothan, Atmanam, Nakulan, Anand and Devathachan, and has authored a collection each of poetry, short stories and literary articles apart from children’s books.
Summary
This volume examines the relationship between language and power across cultural boundaries. It sheds light on how English and Tamil acted as a conduit for cultural transmission among different groups during the first phase of colonialism - mid-18th to late-19th century - to explore the vital role of translation in redefining ethnic identity.
