An amazing conclave of excellence it really
was! with a delightful rendezvous of bibliophiles of all hues from all over
India having gathered together on the occasion of World Book Day, 23 April 2019.
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| Writer Imayam speaks |
The occasion was also meant to be a remembrance
of the legendary playwright William Shakespeare [the Bard] on his birthday.
Eminent speakers included Ms. Mini Krishnan (Translations Editor – Oxford University Press,
Chennai), Mr. Andrew Collister
(Second Secretary and Vice-Consul, Australian Consulate, Chennai), Mr. Imayam (Tamil Writer) and Mr. G. Olivannan (CEO, Emerald Publishers,
Chennai).
Inaugurating the seminar, Dr. S. Armstrong, Head of the Department of English, University of
Madras, spoke at length on the importance of books and libraries. He made a
call to students to go beyond the reach and the confines of the curriculum, and
also emphasized on the need to acknowledge the vibrant custodians guardians of
our knowledge systems, the librarians!
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| Dr. S. Armstrong, Inaugurating the Seminar |
Dr. Armstrong reviewed the latest book by
Australian Aboriginal writer Anita Heiss
titled, Growing Up Aboriginal in
Australia. "To the natives, the contrived curricula in the school system
presented to them was grossly unfair and highly misplaced. This is because the
native knowledge far surpasses the bookish knowledge given to them through the
educational system," he observed.
He also focused on the importance of
epistemology to the natives. ‘Epistemology is inbuilt amongst the natives’ he
observed, and added that, ‘there’s a school inbuilt in their way of life’ that outclasses any colonial schooling system as such! He
also elucidated extensively on the concepts of assimilation and displacement
and also highlighted on the plethora of books available on the ‘Growing Up’ series,
on the transition between the Aboriginal past and their present, on the ‘sting
of humiliation’ and the ‘boot of discrimination’, on the theme of Memory studies, on Anti-stereotyping, on the hardships of living in the bush, on the sense of extended
family, and on the theme of survival with respect to Australian Aboriginal
literature.
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| Mr. Roshan Tony being honoured by the Vice-Consul, Australian Consulate |
Mr.
Roshan Tony, II MA English, Madras Christian College, got a
citation and a cash award of Rs. 5000/- from Mr. Andrew Collister (Second Secretary and Vice-Consul, Australian
Consulate, Chennai), and a honour-shawl from Dr. S. Armstrong, in appreciation of his passion for books and reading,
and for presenting papers in more than five conferences this past year. Dr. Meena Kumari, Dr. Supala Pandiarajan and a host of other professors were there on
the dais to honour him on the occasion.
Ms.
Mini Krishnan highlighted the importance of translations of
Indian regional literature and their place in academia.
Excerpts from her speech –
Dear
Book-Friends Dear Prof Armstrong,
Thank
you very much for inviting me to participate today. A rare honour for a
publisher because I am neither a writer nor a researcher but something in
between; with the help of both these categories, I try to shape reading tastes
and preferences, catering to emerging trends and supporting what academia
engages with.
I
am privileged to be on the same platform as Annamalai Imayam one of our
greatest living and writers and Andrew Collister Australia’s cultural and
political voice in Chennai. It is fitting that these forces appear together on
WBD because we are facilitators of an understanding of the world, and we
promote the sharing of stories in some sort of universal space which both
foregrounds and transcends the personal. In 2014 I anchored a session on
marginalized writers from India and Australia at the Bangalore Literature
Festival. The visitors from Oz were Dylan Coleman, Jeanine Leane and you know
what their primary worry was? That they were losing their languages. There were
at least two generations that couldn’t speak their Aboriginal languages and
they had set up schools to revive them but more of that later…
For
those of us who live by the printed word, really, every day is Book Day but it
is fitting that we honour the date of birth of the man who never went to
University never specialized in the classics, but who knew how to access them
partially through translation and entertain the average person; and this he did
with great power and authority if I might be allowed to use Biblical language.
A
reference to the Bible naturally brings me to one of the major influences we
see in Shakespeare’s language. Translations into English of the Hebrew and
Greek Old Testament and New Testaments. John Wycliffe (14th century) and
William Tyndale ( 1520) were widely read
in Shakespeare’s lifetime. Did Shakespeare read languages other than English? :
he knew Ovid and Plutarch – but did he read the originals or translations? We
know he used modern French and Italian works. He read books on law, medicine,
folklore, alchemy, astrology, and much much else.
Shakespeare
proved that language is a social energy like coal and oil are natural energies.
Our capacity for articulation and writing and thinking has set us apart from
other species. We not as fast as cheetas or horses. We not as strong as bulls.
We are not as adaptable as bacteria but our brains are equipped with the
facility to produce and process speech and abstract thought. For at least
80,000 years language has enabled the sharing of ideas. Our relationship with
our own language and with other languages builds and archeology of human
experience.
I
am very glad that the day is going to be filled with students reviewing
important books but I cannot understand why no translations of Indian writing
have not found a place in today s
deliberations. We have our own literary culture our own literary eco-system and
I would have been very happy if 50% of the reviews today had honoured that
fact. English the visitor language is very important but it cannot replace your
mother tongue. Writers too have their home team and our home team is our
nation. Writers reflect the nation back to itself, from the inside.
And
this is the central message of my address: the importance of Translation in our
lives, not just on WBD. Have you watched a film called Bend it like Beckham?
Well, we have done that with English. Here is an excerpt. Tell me if you can
hear the rhythm of Tamil behind the English!
The
Bus to Aaladi
“Just
move up a little,” said the woman from Vadakkiruppu.
“That’s
someone’s seat. They’ll come now,” said Priyanka.
“When
they come I’ll get up. Now move up.”
“They’ve
gone to the shop. Be back now.”
“Is
this bus your family property, or what?”
“It’s
the government’s.”
“Then
what’s the problem? Move up.”
“It’s
someone’s seat, they’ll be coming – how many times do I have to tell you? Find
another seat.”
“Let
them come. You move up. Or move out of the way!” The woman spoke with some
force. She was from the cluster of huts to the north of Priyanka’s own
village. .
Priyanka
was sitting in a space meant for two people. A handbag lay on the seat next to
the window. When the northerner told her to move, she had at once taken hold of
the bar above the seat aheadwith both hands.
Only if she removed her arms could anyone go past her. The woman tried to push away those arms. It
was no use. Priyanka wasn’t loosening her grip even a little.
“You’re
going to which place?” demanded the woman.
“Aaladi.”
Priyanka was curt.
“All
the way to Vadakkiruppu I have to go! Can’t keep on standing so long. In this whole crowd it’s only you who’s just four stops from your
place, isn’t it? So why can’t you shift a bit and sit over there?” said the
woman.
“Is
there no other place in the bus?”
“If
there was why would I come and hang on you?”
The
Vadakkiruppu woman’s angry question fell on deaf ears. Deliberately looking
away from her, Priyanka stared out of the bus.
I
will close with a word about teaching and mentoring because we are meeting in
that environment. You students are fortunate because you have people who can
not only guide you in your reading but also discuss your responses to what you
have read. Look at the great chance you ve been given : to publicly assess and
share your views on milestone works. Reading well is best pursued as an
implicit discipline because finally there is no method but yours.
Thank
you very much
Mini
Krishnan
Mr.
Andrew Collister then spoke on the significance of books
in understanding cultures and building international relations between
countries. Noting how World Book Day is an occasion when society recognizes
writers, Mr. Imayam argued that literature serves as an eye to perceive society. To
him, a language is a person’s identity, as it carries one’s culture and history
along with it. He observed that, if a person’s language is destroyed, the entire
culture and history associated with it also gets erased.
About 25 faculty members, research scholars and
students from across India presented reviews on books from Australia, India,
New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria. They also presented reviews of books from the
Language Centre of the London School of Economics. Two students presented
papers on The Times Literary Supplement. (Reviews by Presenters will be discussed on a separate post! Keep watching this space!)
The programme ended with a wonderful valedictory
address by Mr. G. Olivannan the CEO
of Emarald publishers. Mr. Olivannan highlighted how digital Literature was
once a threat to book publications. He also stressed on how book sales
increased despite the pressures of such changes in medium. He requested writers
to record through their writings how to bring about a change in society. He
wanted the writers to be the game changers like how it used to be in the past. He
also added to say that, we learnt a lot from books, about a society’s culture, their
civilization, their language etc. which we have to pass on through books.
[Thank you Prof. Angeline for the snaps, and Prof. Rasheeda for the wonderful write-up on the Valedictory!]
thank you sir for the updates.
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