At the Book Brahma Literature Festival on Saturday, the city resounded with literary voices from South Indian languages.
In discussions on topics ranging from poetry to autobiography, from cinema to literary fiction, the literary fest touched on the unique sensibility of the languages of South India that is missing in English.
In a panel discussion on ‘Challenges of publishing books from English into Indian languages’, Ravi Deecee, Managing Partner, DC Books, said that English is a bridge for translations from other South Indian languages. Sometimes English helps in understanding the original texts better, he said.
However, Akil Mehta shared his experience in the Marathi publishing industry and replied that in most cases, when the English translation of a South Indian text is used as a bridge for translation into another language, the essence of the original is lost.
Filmmaker P Sheshadri highlighted the representation of regional languages in cinema and commented on the emergence of pan-Indian cinema and how it triggered the loss of colloquial essence in a session titled ‘A Little Glimpse into Kannada Cinema’.
Abhaya Simha, a national award-winning filmmaker, added to this by sharing his experience of adapting Shakespeare’s Macbeth for Tulu and the sensibilities associated with Tuluva culture.
In a panel discussion on “Gender Sensitivity in South Indian Languages,” human rights activist Akkai Padmashali mentioned the struggle of gender and sexual minorities in asserting their identities.
Malavika (Lakshman) highlighted that narratives of the transgender community are missing in literature and that publishing their stories is a challenge.
Malavika (Lakshman) stressed the importance of including her experiences in school textbooks to eliminate discrimination against future generations.
Kannada author Vasudhendra told DH“This festival gives us, the writers of South India, more confidence in our work. This is indeed an important milestone. There is no doubt that Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu literature is flourishing.”
He added that the literary festival had provided a platform to South Indian authors that was missing from other literary festivals.
The festival ends on Sunday.
Published 11 August 2024, 02:49 IS
