Overview

Uneasy Translations: Self, Experience and Indian Literature interweaves the personal journey of an academic into reflections around self, language and translation with an eye on the intangibly available category of experience. It dwells on quieter modes of being political, of making knowledge democratic and of seeing gendered language in the everyday. In an unusual combination of real-life incidents and textual examples, it provides a palimpsest of what it is to be in a classroom; in the domestic sphere, straddling the ‘manyness’ of language and, of course, in a constant mode of translation that remains incomplete and unconcluded. Through both a poignant voice and rigorous questions, Kothari asks what it is to live and teach in India as a woman, a multilingual researcher and as both a subject and a rebel of the discipline of English. ­She draws from multiple bhasha texts with an uncompromising eye on their autonomy and intellectual tradition. ­The essays range from questions of knowledge, affect, caste, shame and humiliation to other cultural memories. Translation avoids the arrogance of the original; it has the freedom to say it and not be held accountable, which can make it both risky and exciting. More importantly, it also speaks after (anuvaad) rather than only for or instead, and this ethic informs the way Kothari writes this book, breaking new ground with gentle provocations.

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Reviews

Uneasy Translations is a work of extraordinary imaginative power, literary sophistication and moral insight. It is a mediation of the pressing questions of our time. What does it mean to represent suffering? How does language both enable us to access other lives and selves, and yet also limit our understanding? What pedagogical practices are appropriate to a society where the bonds of sympathy are broken, or where the easy comforts of taking a position prevent the attainment of genuine moral knowledge. Through nuanced readings of literary texts, pedagogical practices and reflections on the art of translation, Kothari brilliantly opens up new theoretical and moral conversations. -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor, Princeton University The relationship between language and experience is complex in India because of caste and class dynamics. To negotiate through this space is an act of courage and Rita Kothari does this from the vantage point of an insider. This exceptionally insightful book posits Kothari as an important thinker of language and literature. -- Vivek Shanbhag, Author, Gachar Gochar Using stories and songs that chafe and struggle to express caste- and gender-specific ways of being in the world, the essays in this book enact its basic premises-that knowledge is born out of experience, that languages and their hierarchies profoundly shape us but also provide some space for reinvention, and that uneasy translation is something we do and live every day. A wonderfully rich example of theorising, the book will delight, stimulate, and reward every reader interested in how words and languages work on us, their power and their magic. -- Francesca Orsini, Professor Emerita, SOAS, University of London This provocative book is going to make many stand on their toes. The artifice of language and expression is taken to task. English will have to pass the difficult tests put by the author. The page-turner tract will find an audience in many. Written with vivid details and punchy scholarly takes, Uneasy Translations is an extraordinary achievement. Rita Kothari is an outstanding metonym witnessing the metamorphosis of her calling-as a child of Sindhi migrants to a professional language hustler-rejoicing the critique of English and translations. Uneasy Translations is vital for the culture of languages and the discipline in general. It assures diverse India, rich with its long registers of languages, sub-languages, accents and dialects, to not rely on the hegemonic parlance of the English language to seek validations. It is a holler for writers and readers alike. -- Suraj Yengde, Author, Caste Matters

Uneasy Translations is a work of extraordinary imaginative power, literary sophistication and moral insight. It is a mediation of the pressing questions of our time. What does it mean to represent suffering? How does language both enable us to access other lives and selves, and yet also limit our understanding? What pedagogical practices are appropriate to a society where the bonds of sympathy are broken, or where the easy comforts of taking a position prevent the attainment of genuine moral knowledge. Through nuanced readings of literary texts, pedagogical practices and reflections on the art of translation, Kothari brilliantly opens up new theoretical and moral conversations. -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor, Princeton University The relationship between language and experience is complex in India because of caste and class dynamics. To negotiate through this space is an act of courage and Rita Kothari does this from the vantage point of an insider. This exceptionally insightful book posits Kothari as an important thinker of language and literature. -- Vivek Shanbhag, Author, Gacher Gocher Using stories and songs that chafe and struggle to express caste- and gender-specific ways of being in the world, the essays in this book enact its basic premises-that knowledge is born out of experience, that languages and their hierarchies profoundly shape us but also provide some space for reinvention, and that uneasy translation is something we do and live every day. A wonderfully rich example of theorising, the book will delight, stimulate, and reward every reader interested in how words and languages work on us, their power and their magic. -- Francesca Orsini, Professor Emerita, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London This provocative book is going to make many stand on their toes. The artifice of language and expression is taken to task. English will have to pass the difficult tests put by the author. The page-turner tract will find an audience in many. Written with vivid details and punchy scholarly takes, Uneasy Translations is an extraordinary achievement. Rita Kothari is an outstanding metonym witnessing the metamorphosis of her calling-as a child of Sindhi migrants to a professional language hustler-rejoicing the critique of English and translations. Uneasy Translations is vital for the culture of languages and the discipline in general. It assures diverse India, rich with its long registers of languages, sub-languages, accents and dialects, to not rely on the hegemonic parlance of the English language to seek validations. It is a holler for writers and readers alike. -- Suraj Yengde, Author, Caste Matters

Author Information

Rita Kothari is Professor of English at Ashoka University where she also runs the centre for translation. A distinguished translator, Kothari is also a leading theoretician of translation studies; internationally known for Translating India : The Cultural Politics of English, A Multilingual Nation, and her co-edited books Chutnefying English and Decentring Translation Studies. Her translations of note include Angaliyat : The Stepchild from Gujarati; Unbordered Memories from Sindhi and the Patan Trilogy by K.M.Munshi from Gujarati (in collaboration). Her work on partition and borders intervened to bring the unusual Sindhi experience in books such as The Burden of Refuge and the study of Indo-Pak border region in Memories and Movements. Kothari is a multilingual scholar and her translation interest is manifest in the way she moves between various languages through research and pedagogy. She also writes extensively on language politics, partition, and literary and social traditions of Gujarat and Sindh, and Hindi cinema. Her recent publication is The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told (2022).

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