Modern forms

Sherrif cites a modern example of cultural rewriting which is that of the kathaprasangam in Kerala. It is a secular version of the devotional Harikatha where the performer recites a story from the puranas or epics as a prose narrative with songs in between. Kathaprasangam as an art form evolved from this, but was a hugely popular secular form in Kerala, its range of influence comparable to the television today. Two of the most popular kathaprasangam artists were Kedamangalam Sadanandan and Sambasivan, both of them Communist sympathizers. Their performances were a huge impetus to the cultural agenda of Communism and succeeded in sensitizing their listeners to the ideals of socialism and egalitarianism preached by the leftist ideology.

Sambasivan who was to become legendary in his rendition of kathaprasangams, turned to world literature for inspiration. His version of Maxim Gorky’s Mother was hugely popular and openly Communist. But he also had other literary masterpieces like Shakespeare’s Othello and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. It is not an exaggeration to say that these became household names to people who barely knew English. The popular art form of kathaprasangam had effected a translation at all levels – cultural and linguistic. Besides, by bringing the classics to the masses, Sambasivan was fulfilling another important mission of rewrites or retellings. As Sherrif points out: “What one tends to forget is that most non-professional readers in any culture have had access to a large body of the ‘world literature’, including the classics, only through rewritings: retellings of stories, reviews, critical articles, encyclopedias and other books for reference” (Translation Today).

Kathaprasangam is but one example of the numerous folk forms in India, which reach out to the common man and establish contact with him/her. The cultural rewriting or intersemiotic translation that is implicit in these forms is not always noticed or studied.