ABSTRACT Introduction

Though it is difficult to define translation in exact words, it roughly means conversion of a text in one language to a text of another language. This may be a conversion of the content, form, style or language. There are different theories of translations put forward by Nida E.A. and Catford J.C. People talk about linguistic equivalence, sense translation, literal

translation etc.

Globalization has made it obligatory and convenient to learn more than one important languages of the world. Translation of a Marathi book in Hindi belongs to the primary phase of translation practice in India. Translation of a Marathi text in English belongs to the modem phase. Researcher has made a historical survey of the translation practice in India in his

studies.

Researcher selected following four autobiographies written by four Dalit writers in Marathi and their translations in English.

• Laxman Mane's ‘Upra’ (1980) translated as ‘Upra (An Outsider)’ (2003).

• Sharankumar Limbale's ‘Akkarmashi’ (1984) translated as ‘The Outcaste’ (2003).

• Laxman Gaikwad's ‘Uchalya’ (1987) translated as The Branded’ (1998).

• Urmila Pawar's ‘Aaydan’ (2003) translated as ‘The Weave of My Life; A Dalit Woman's

Memoirs’ (2008).

Dalit writers in Maharashtra began to write about their hfe after independence. Marathi that they employed in these books is the Marathi of their huts, shanties, far away from the everyday Marathi of the so called savamas.

Translation of this language into an alien language like English was certainly a tough task. The culture represented in these books was also new to Marathi and English language and hterature. Hence it posed special challenges before the translators. I would like to study these texts from language and culture point of view.

V Chapterization Scheme

Chapter I

This is an introductory chapter. There are various translation theories which guided researcher in his study. He analyzed the translation with reference to various theories. Chapter also explains ideas behind selection of Dalit autobiographies for this study. Nida E.A.'s ‘Towards a Science of Translation’ explained his theory of translation. According to him ‘It reduces the source text to its structurally simplest and most semantically evident kernels.

It transfers the meaning from source language to target language on a structurally simple level. It attempts at generating the stylistically and semantically equivalent expression in the receptor language’.

J.C.Catford in his definition of translation says Translation may be defined as follows; the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)...... The central problem o f translation practices is that o f finding (TL) translational equivalents'.

The ancient Romans contributed greatly towards translation. Eric Jacabson claims that translation is a Roman invention.

There had been many translations from Greek to Latin. Around 240 B.C. the Greek slave Andronicus translated ‘The Odyssey’ into Latin. He is supposedly the first translator. ‘The Old Testament’ was originally written in Hebrew. But there were many Jews who did not know the Hebrew language. For them, ‘The old Testament’ was translated into Greek.

The works of Aristotle, Plato, Galen Hippocrates and others were translated into Arabic by a group of Syrian scholars. Then coming to translations into English, King Alfreds is an important name. He ruled England during the 9th century and translated a number of Latin texts in English. J.A.Hammerton says that, "Alfred the Great (849-899) was a translator himself and the cause of translation in others."

Coming to translation from Marathi to English, Jaywant Dalvi's ‘Chakra’, Bhalchandra Nemade's ‘Kosla’, Sharankumar Limbale's ‘Akkarmashi’, St.Tukaram's ‘Tuka Manhe’, V.D.Karandikar's poems, Vijay Tendulkar's plays are translated in English.

Four Dalit autobiographies are renowned and read by the worldwide readers and their translated versions reached every comer of the world. These four autobiographies became the part of research. A work can be translated in various ways.

VI Chapter II

This chapter deals with Laxman Gaikwad's ‘Uchalya’, published in 1987 and translated by P.A.Kolharkar as ‘The Branded’, published in 1998. 'Uchalya' is branded as a caste that is held responsible for small thefts.

These people have their own culture, custom, jat panchayat etc. They do not speak Marathi but can understand Marathi language. It is filled with many challenges to translate a book like this in Enghsh.

Laxman Gaikwad has not written in everyday Marathi but has used various words from his mother language. Researcher studied the procedure he adopted in translating vulgar words, quotations, rituals in English. Some sample expressions in Marathi and their translations in English from ‘Uchalya’ have been commented upon.

Chapter III

This chapter deals with the study of Laxman Mane's ‘Upra’, published in 1980, and translated in English by A.K. Kamat as ‘Upra (An Outsider)’, published in 2003. ‘Upra’ means a person who does not belong to any permanent place.

This chapter contains the study of language, culture, customs, and their translations.

This chapter contains the comments on the procedure followed by the translator. It takes into account whether the translator has translated word to word, sentence to sentence, passage to passage or idea to idea etc. Some sample expressions in Marathi and their translations in English from ‘Upra’ have been commented upon.

Chapter IV

This chapter deals with Sharankumar Limbale's ‘Akkarmashi’, published in 1984 and translated by Santosh Bhoomkar as ‘The Outcaste’, published in 2003.

'Akkarmashi' means an illegitimate child, whose mother is known but father is anonymous. This chapter contains the study of language, culture, customs, swearings, poverty etc. translated in English. Some sample expressions in Marathi and their translations in English from ‘Akkarmashi’ have been commented upon.

VII vm Chapter V

This chapter deals with Urmila Pawar's ‘Aaydan’, pubhshed in 2003 and translated by Maya Pandit as ‘The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman's Memoirs’, published in 2008. ‘Aaydan’ is a heart-breaking story of a Dalit Woman from a small town in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Weaving of a bamboo bucket is a traditional occupation of this community. This chapter contains the study of language, culture, customs, and their translations. Some sample expressions in Marathi and their translations in English from ‘Aaydan’ have been commented upon.

Chapter VI

This chapter is conclusion. I have written on the history of translation in this chapter. It comments on the various difficuhies encountered by the translators. I wrote about the different methods used by translator while translating the Marathi texts. It compares various ways of translations used by these four translators.

VIII