Rita Kothari
Description
"A classic question about India, often asked by non-Indians, when they encounter its hundreds of languages is- how did and does India manage communica
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tion amidst such linguistic diversity? Surely, translation must be the only way. Indian Language Bazaars has its genesis in two decades' experience of the author with the act, activity and theorization of translation. What is translation in the Indian context? Does it have to be linguistic in nature? Does it need to refer to written texts only? Does 'it' need to be called 'translation' or is it an unstable and hybrid category that has increasingly begun to get stable in a more self-conscious and academic understanding of translation? Does crisscrossing of languages often captured in misleadingly transactional terms such as "borrowing" and "loan words" not constitute translation? Do vocabularies from diverse regions not constitute what comes to be claimed as 'purely' indigenous languages, hinting at yet other processes of translation at work? Spaces such as bazaars, conversations on trains, etc. - show an unselfconsciousness towards the multiple languages that contribute to both verbal and non-verbal exchanges. We seldom think of instances of the bazaars of any such Indian city or its individuals in terms of 'multilingualism.' On the other hand a private airline proudly announces the number of languages its crew can speak on a particular flight, or a short messaging system (SMS) announces that the Prime Minister's message is now available in nineteen downloadable languages. What can explain these contrarian approaches to "multilingualism"? Are we examining a shift towards a more market-oriented view of languages and translation? What is the role of nationalism in this? The book hopes to address some of these questions along the way."--
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