ABSTRACT
This chapter performs a symptomatic reading of the English translation of Akkarmashi by Santosh Bhoomkar in order to bring to light two major concerns. The first concern relates to the omissions from the source text, and how they rob it of depth and resonance. The second is to probe whether the loss of meaning and literary quality – such as tropes, alliteration, repetition, irony and tone – in the English translation of Indian language texts is inevitable. The objective of the chapter is not to find fault with the translator, but to situate translation in the larger questions of discursive, semiotic and cultural hegemonies that operate when a text is translated for the consumption of the dominant language speakers. While Venuti speaks of inequities between dominant and peripheral cultures, his insight is applicable to Dalit translated texts as well. Translated for high caste/class consumption, by high caste/class translators, who are inevitably distant from many aspects of Dalit suffering, the translated text often falls short of capturing that radical alterity which is the segregated Dalit life. The chapter pleads for greater self-reflexivity about the blind spots in our vision caused by caste and class privilege, which makes us, readers and translators alike, assimilate and domesticate Dalit texts.
