ABSTRACT
The chapter highlights that with the growth in literacy and exposure to British literature, the native Tamils saw the potential for translation. This began with religious texts in the 19th century, it moved on to Shakespeare and then to Dickens. From the 1930s several literary magazines carried European stories in translation. Ka. Naa. Subramaniam introduced Scandinavian works. Many of the translators were also creative writers. The concept of World Literature emerged. Ezhuthu of the 1960s, which presented T.S. Eliot, Kafka, and Faulkner, marked the arrival of the Little Magazine, per se. The 1950–1970 span witnessed a vigorous drive for translation. From the 1970s, the apolitical little magazine became political with a thrust on post-Marxism and sociology. The noteworthy magazines of this period include Ka Cha Ta Tha Pa Ra, Pregnai, Padigal, Meetchi, and Nirappirigai. Commencing from the 1980s, Latin American fiction appeared in abundance, which impacted Tamil fictional mode. The small presses played a complementary role in promoting translation, thereby consolidating the accomplishments of the little magazines. Institutions like the International Institute of Tamil Studies, Sahitya Akademi, and National Book Trust nurtured translation by promoting pan-Indian interface. The little magazines deployed translation as an active agent of change and new flowering.
