Rise of Indian nationalism
Parallel to the rise of English and western ideas, the spirit of nationalism was growi ng in India. Indians benefited from the ideas and knowledge they got from the west and put it to good use to eradicate many of the evils existing in the society of those days. Translations from English to Indian languages and vice versa began to increase. But translations were also acts of resistance as they had the aim of fostering the spirit of nationalism. One example is Dinbandhu Mitra’s Neel Darpan written in 1859, translated by Rev. James Long in 1861. It was an exhortation to protest against the exploitation of the indigo workers in Bengal. The play was banned and James Long was prosecuted for having aided in the translation of the play.
Another consequence of the numerous translations was the introduction of the genre of the novel in India. Although there are people who say that India had the novel before the British (they point to Banabhatta’s Kadambari as evidence), the novel is believed to be a British legacy. The first Indian novels in the 19th century were inspired by English novels, but were Indian in spirit as they discussed socio-political problems relevant to India. They were also motivated by English education to remove social ills and fostered the nationalistic spirit. Very often these novels got translated into other Indian languages resulting in a bonding between far-flung areas of India. For instance, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Anandamath was translated into English and other Indian languages within a few years of its publication in 1882. This novel, which contained our national song Vande Mataram, was one of the works that inspired nationalists all over the country.
Translations often inspired writers in other languages to write novels. The earliest novels in Hindi were translations of Bengali novels, like Gadadhar Singh’s translation of Romesh Chandra Dutt’s Bangabijeta and Bankim’s Durgeshnandini. These were done under the supervision of the noted Hindi writer Bharatendu Harishchandra. By the end of the century Kishorilal Goswami wrote a novel, which was according to him ‘under the influence of Bengali’. Sometimes the indigenous novel got promoted by British officers. An example is Indulekha the first Malayalam novel (1888) which was translated into English by a British officer W. Dumergue.
The Christian influence was felt in the early novels also, besides in the Bible translations. Some of the early novels were written by British women with a view to promoting the Christian way of life. Hannah Catherine Mullens wrote Phulmoni–O–Karunar Bibaran in Bengali in 1852. Mrs. Collins, the wife of a missionary living in Kerala, wrote The Slayer Slain in 1866; this was translated into Malayalam in 1877. These novels had the purpose of educating the native women about the advantages of Christianity. They were also the first novels to speak of the marginalized sections of Indian society.
If most of these translations did not have a direct political motive, there were other translations that were done by Indians to undermine the colonial power. The translation of Anandamath by Aurobindo is a case in point.
He undertook this translation to inspire the militant nationalists of Bengal in the first decade of the 20th century. He even founded a journal called Bande Mataram. Many others like Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi (1830 – 1931) sought inspiration from other languages like French and German. He translated Victor Hugo’s Ninety-three into Hindi as Balidaan. He believed it his duty to translate works that would instill patriotism in his countrymen. He modified these works to suit his countrymen’s tastes and his translations were more or less like free adaptations of the original text. Premchand (1880 – 1936) the famous Hindi-Urdu writer, translated Anatole France’s Thais.Like Vidyarthi, he was motivated by ideological reasons.Translations like these, with the specific purpose of introducing revolutionary ideas to Indian readers, were being undertaken in different parts of India. These were more like adaptations with no thought for fidelity to the original. They played a silent but influential role in enhancing the patriotic spirit among Indians.
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