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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
#1
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Best short stories for translation
Topic started by hub admin (@ siebel200.siebel.com) on Tue Jan 16 13:58:06 .
Iyal, a newly established trust, is planning to publish an anthology of some of the best of tamil short stories translated to english. Your input is needed. What are the best short stories in tamil literature, in your opinion? Any genre is welcome. This thread will also help people to get an introduction to the best short stories in our literature and read them.
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12th December 2004 08:32 AM
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
#2
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Vassan (@ sdn-*) on: Tue Jan 16 19:54:39 EST 2001
Balaji Wrote:
.."Iyal, a newly established trust, is planning to publish an anthology of some of the best of tamil short stories translated to english. Your input is needed.."
I'm not sure if Balaji is talking about short stories that have
been translated "already" or the ones that might qualify for a translation to English...
Assuming Iyal is trying to collect a list of Tamil Short stories for translation,here is a partial list...[imho]
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
#3
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ujhjnuuok (@ dsl-*) on: Tue Jan 16 22:36:19 EST 2001
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
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bb (@ sieb*) on: Wed Jan 17 12:55:16 EST 2001
vassan, we are talking about stories that will be good for translation. looking for more recommendations from you. i will put a permanent list here at the end as a reference for beginners.
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
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Pasupathy (@ pcpa*) on: Wed Jan 17 16:08:11 EST 2001
Balaji,
I think it is useful to see what is out there first..both in Tamil and in English. Didn't ka.naa.subramaniyam translate some Tamil stories into English? What about various Tamil collections like
Asokamithran's , Akilan's and saa.kandhasaamy
(for Sahitya Academi..which led to controversy)..
(I have seen reference to these in a recent Kumudam interview with writer Samudhram..).Should not these be first translated ? They have been chosen by well-known authors who probably have read a lot more than many of us...
A less controversial attempt is to identify the 'best' short story writers and choose one story for each...
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
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bb (@ sieb*) on: Thu Jan 18 12:39:53 EST 2001
Pasupathi, this is the list that sujatha had given in his vikatan article (kaRRadhum peRRadhum).
pudhumaip piththan - manidha iyandhiram
ku.pa.rajagOpaalan - vidiyumaa
thi.jaa - silirppu
laa.sa.raa - kottu mELam
ku.azhagirisaami - anbaLippu
su.raa - prasaadham
a.maadhavan - naayanam
JK - agni pravEsam
JM - pallakku
vaNNadaasan - nilai
krishnan nambi - marumagaL vaakku
naanjil naadan - vaakkup porukkigaL
ashOkamiththran - pulik kalaignan
krishnamurthy - manidhargaL
IP - asalum nagalum
iraa. murugan - uththaraayaNam
su.samudhram(!) - naangaavadhu kuRRachchaattu
raa.ki.ra - seidhi
thangarbachchaan - kudi mundhiri
sivasankari - septic
rajam krishnan - maavilaith thOraNam
prabanjan - meen
ki.raa - kadhavu
sundharapaaNdiyan - kaLavu
vaNNanilavan - esther
dhileep kumar - kadidham
chO.dharuman - nasukkam
nagore rUmi - kuttiyaappaa
ramachandra vaidhdhiyanaadhan - naadaak kaarargaL
baamaa - aNNaachchi
sujatha - mahabali
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
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Pasupathy (@ pas.*) on: Sat Jan 20 10:09:17
Balaji,
Thanks ..the list looks pretty good.Perhaps it really relects the post-Independence period nicely. What about early years ? Should not they be represented as well? ( See , e.g. the many
volumes of Story Collections published by Alliance. To my knowledge, they have issued Four 'KataikkOvai's. Each contains more than 50 stories ..all by different writers. I think their effort is very laudable since it is perhaps the first such one by any Book Publisher ...in such exhaustive manner. But I am sure those selections will not match Sujatha's list! )
The following concerns remain in my mind.
1. Difficulty in preparing "the best" list. This is similar to "best" pictures... the judgement of peers ( supposedly Oscar), judgement of Critics (Critics' Choice Awards), Popular Choice etc. All
will differ many times.
In Tamil fiction, rightnow we do not have a good mechanism for polling a large number of readers. If all the Tamil magazines (with Web presence) start a best story of the Year poll, slowly we may get a list of "best" from each Magazine according to Readers' choice. I am told that an organization ( Crea? Ilakkiya Vattam ?) meets regularly in Chennai to choose the best story of the year in a particular magazine. Such efforts are all to be encouraged. Finally critics, Tamil Writers' Assn etc should also start awarding Prizes every year.. look at Mystery Writers' Assn in USA... .
2. Another question: Such a translation is aiming at which audience? Will the reader have the background to understand the cultural background of the stories or does one need 'footnotes' and explanations... Even very good translations of Tamil works suffer in this regard. e.g. Prof Zvelebil's translation of U.vE.sA's autobiography ..there are a lot of details which will leave the uninitiated reader completely lost... One needs an Annotated Translation to cross the cultural divide. In fact, such annotation is needed even for Tamil readers of the same book !
3. Since it is a popular name or a prestigious panel which will usually sell such Translations, the best course of action..may very well be to choose a well-respected author/critic and go with his/her list.At least the name will sell the book. ( When I buy Best Mystery Stories collections, I usually go this route. ..go with the choice of a person I respect..)
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
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Kanchana (@ spid*) on: Sat Jan 20 11:48:43
Pasupathy,
"ilakkiya sinthanai" is the organization which meets every month to choose the story of the month from all the published stories in that particular month; an interesting aspect is that readers are used to select the stories. Finally, the best story of the month is chosen from these 12. All the twelve are published by Vaanathi Pathippagam every year. (thiru. Vaasan's list above reflect some of the chosen stories from ilakkiya sindhanai--I don't know if he's aware of it.)
Thiruppur Thamizh Sangam, Katha, lilly vinaayagam Trust(hope I got that right!), Kalki/ Kumudam/ Kanaiyaazhi competitions, and several other Trusts recognize short stories in their own ways.
There are some anthologies which can be used as references too, compiled by Asokamithran, Dilipkumar, Sa.Kandhasamy, Pirabanchan, and those published by organizations by ilakkiya sindhanai, Sahitya Academy and kuRaL peedam. Given the rich diversity of contemporary Tamil short fiction, there are several criteria which can be used to define and tailor an anthology; I personally believe the final decision always rests with the Editor(s) regardless of whether the nominations are obtained from a prestigious panel, people's panel, or through a one-person selection, as long as the criteria are defined well.
You are right about the translation being able to communicate to an "outside" audience effectively. I've heard many critics say that this is where several translations of contemporary tamil works fail to date. I have no comments on these critiques since I've read the Thamizh originals only.
An aside:
Writer Sujatha selects "mahaabali" from his written works in the A-V list. I personally would pick a story like "nakaram", which had a tremendous impact on me as a reader. Some other reader may pick yet another story. An interesting learning by itself.
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
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r.- (@ dhcp*) on: Sat Jan 20 14:40:31
kanchana,
you said, "lilly vinaayagam Trust (hope I got that right!)"
or, is it Lilly Devasigamani Trust??
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12th December 2004, 08:32 AM
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vj (@ pmu8*) on: Sat Jan 20 20:48:09
I read a translation of Na. Muthuswamy's stories. (I think the translation was by someone called Lakshmi Holstrom). The stories were very interesting.. particularly Death (Ezhuppu?), Who shall be my refuge? (Yaar thunai?). I though the translations were rather too raw. If your goal is to translate the 'best' so far in Tamil short fiction , do consider this writer.
Vijay
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