ABSTRACT
The chapter takes up for some detailed study the translations of Thirukkural, Naladiyar and Tamil proverbs by Rev. G.U. Pope, Rev. Drew Ellis and Rev. H. Jensen, respectively. It locates these translations within the following framework: religious and theological motives, cultural motives, Indological motives, literary motives and linguistic motives. The missionaries had to find suitable levels of vocabulary to convey the difference between Indian religious systems and Christian thought. Puritan Christian morality and ethics constitute the cultural motive behind the efforts at translation. The European mind took an interest in the Other and made serious studies of Oriental culture. The missionaries studying Dravidian languages may be seen as sharing the general interest of the period in Indological studies. Eighteenth-century Augustan ideas of literature privileged the literary values of conciseness, epigrammatic brevity and formal perfection alongside features such alliteration, assonance and rhyme, the markers of polish and refinement. Pope gave a pioneering direction to Dravidian studies through his introduction and prefaces to the translations of Kural and Naladiyar. Tamil proverbs are at the pole of the layman’s use of language reflecting his innate wisdom. The specimens of proverbs translated by Jensen highlight the felicitous classification and excellent analogues from English.
