Translation module to promote Tamil literature among non-Tamil readers initiated

“While translation is in the curriculum of many universities and autonomous colleges, a sustained plan of action in this regard has not been attempted before. The kind of list we have started to build is vital to both translation studies and translation education. This is an area where our team of experts can play a pivotal role because lack of information and lack of coordination between publishers and academia and knowledgeable persons are the weak links that have been preventing us from building a library of our literary heritage. We need to make available a sound canon of Tamil – English translations to the non-language readers. Also, there are several Tamil speakers who cannot read the language. We hope to reach that audience as well,”

The team is planning to make the books available to college-goers and in international book fairs in different parts of the world. “We have collaborated with various leading publishing houses for this project. The translations from Tamil published by English language publishers operating in India show a marked preference for fiction, particularly contemporary fiction. Classical Tamil and non-fiction have not received much attention. Travelogues, literary discourse, memoirs and essays need to be revived and restored to the reading public. This is not to say that nothing has been done. We need to supplement and guide those who are willing to commit resources and time to translate Tamil works into English,” he adds.

In the first phase, six famous Tamil books have been translated into English. The Kural (Penguin Random House), CS Chellappa’s Vaadivaasal (1948, Oxford University Press), T Janakiraman’s Sembaruththi (1968, Ratna Books), Neelapadmanabhan’s Thalaimuraikal (1968, Niyogi Books), Ki Rajanaranan’s Karisal Kathaikal (1984, Harper Collins India) and Rajam Krishnan’s Suzhalil Midakkum Deepangal (1986). In the ongoing second phase, nine books will be translated into English.