Chapter 22

A slight digression to the literary side

The god of small things

Arundhathi Roy's novel, The god of small things, is a wonderful book. It is a book that hurts severely. I can't say if her writing style is good, or not. For, it was not the writing style that struck me, but the theme of the story. But, it is doubtful any Englishman would have been able to feel the full depth of the pathos, of the story. For, it is a story that is being enacted in Malayalam. The tremendous power of the indicant words that change, as one move from a position of superiority to one of tragedy cannot be understood in English.

It is like that movie, The Last Emperor, in which the last Emperor of China goes through a transformation from that of Emperor through the stage of a prisoner in a Chinese prison, to that of a gardener under the communist party officials of China. The terrible levels of change in indicant words were not obvious in the English version of the film. But the facial and postural expressions did express it.

In Arundhathi's novel, the behaviour of the police Inspector is typical of the Indian Police, yet the real impact can be felt only if one understands Malayalam language.  But beyond that, the whole theme of a lower caste man mating with a upper society woman and its social implication can be understood only from the perspective of a feudal language. For, in English nothing much of an earthquake has happened. Yet, in Malayalam, the chance for the lower caste persons to equate themselves with the higher classes in society would not only disturb all the dominating persons in society, but it could change the social equation in many far flung social areas.

Whether Arundhathi herself has thought about the aspect of feudalism in Malayalam is not known, but if she had, then she would have had the answer as to why a liaison between the lower caste man and the upper society woman can create not just an earthquake, but literally a volcano. This question is an enduring theme in the book, apart from innumerable other incidents, all traced to this shocking event.

But in this book, the author has used a lot of Malayalam sentences, and sometimes their English meanings have been given. I would like to point that one of the defects of translation of feudal language themes into English is that in the feudal language every dialogue, and every sentence may have a social and feudal understanding of many aspects of the persons who are in context. For example, the sentences: Why did you not tell me when you were going? and its answer: I had no time to call out to you, can be said using different indicant words, each giving a different understanding of who is of what relative position in society or in  a family relationship, what dominating power one has on the other, and how subjugated one man is to another..

Yet, if the sentences are read in English, this whole effect and understanding is lost.

This writing is not meant to be a critique of Ms. Roys book; hence, the discussion on this book stops here.

Apart from all this, I have many times thought about the other persons who may have understood about the difference a language can make on a personality. Actually, it has been my experience that all persons, when I first tell them this theme*, argue with me to the level of tiring me out. Some take the issue to personal levels and level charges on me, my capacities, my abilities, my arrogance and my vulnerabilities. Yet, after a few months, when I meet them, they would be sneaky enough to tell me the same themes as if they had always known it.

Now, one person who has impressed me in terms of his intellect and great understanding of the immensity of human exposure to extreme experiences is Somerset Maugham*. Actually, in one of his stories I did exactly see a character, an Englishman, who married a native Asian woman and tried desperately to save his son from the clutches of the native language. And in many others of his short stories, I have seen themes that do have an understanding of the factor of the overwhelming stranglehold a feudal, native language can have on its speaker, even if he or she is basically a British native.

Persons who do translation work may be aware of the problem of the indicant words, but whether they give much thought to it, or to its effect on human relations, is not known. Yet, there is another field, where the effect is felt immediately. It is in the field of dubbing films. If one dubs an English film into say Hindi or Malayalam, the very translation would create problems for translators. The husband addresses his wife with You, and the reverse is also You in English. In the translation, it changes to one in the higher indicant word and the other in the lower indicant word. Now, so far so good. But when a local sees the film, he would feel a bit awkward, as the body language of both man and woman would not match the wordings used. Actually, when I see English movies dubbed in Hindi, I feel a terrible nausea. I really do wonder whether, the actors really are aware of the terrible battering in personality many of them endure, during the dubbing, by going into lower indicant words.

At the same time, if a Hindi or Malayalam film is translated into English, the feudal connotation of the dialogue is lost, and the effect is again a bit unnatural. This can be seen slightly in Chinese language Martial Arts films dubbed in English. The exquisite system of bowing and reverence shown would have no compelling force, in English dialogues.

To put it in other words, there is actually a lack of real understanding of the sense of, what one sees or reads something translated or dubbed from a feudal language into English.

In Indian films, the woman sob and cry with a lingering frequency, or they are very assertive, to the point of being irritating. It is very difficult for them to exhibit a level of dignified and mature assertiveness, as one would find in an English film. It is not possible to display the English level of mature adult behaviour, as there is no program in the feudal languages to place a woman suitably in such a position of communication.

One marked difference one would find in, say Indian films, is the very ambiance of the hero. He has to be placed apart from the rest in a very obvious manner, and to strike it out, a string of characters who exists as sort of buffoons are arranged around him to illuminate him, and for him to dominate. The way, a hero communicates with everyone in a mature level to everyone in the English films, can be the end of the actor, if he tries the same pose in Indian films. He would get lost in a maze of people. In the feudal psychology he should stand apart, radiating the enchantment, that distance naturally lends.

 A lot people now write in English. Actually, writing in English is the most easiest thing to do, if one is not bothered about the low quality that comes in with an absence of superior levels of experience. And the readership available is very high.

In these times, I have seen persons who have formal qualifications to claim to be experts in English language, speaking with disdain about English classics, and going in for exquisite adjectives on translated works of many non-English writers, and also of English writings with non-English scenario. When speaking about English writings, they immediately take an offensive stance and go in for dissertations on famous authors of other languages, which they have read in the English translation version.

Yet, there is something that needs to be said about real English classics*, and also about English books with an English social scene. They represent a social environment that is a reflection of a non-feudal language environment. While most of the non-English language stories deal with themes that have a very stinging atmosphere of social hierarchy. For the purpose of enjoyment and other literary pursuits, reading them is okay; yet, if one intends to imbibe the real feel of an unfettered English mind, then English classics do have a great role to play. In these time, when computers have enabled any person, with absolutely mediocre themes to convey, to bring out dazzling books, with zero content, there is need to understand that quality doesn't always come in well dressed, shining appearance. I remember a line from the American Classic, Gone with the Wind*, of Reth Butler*, telling Scarlett O' Hara, that the value of real gold, which even if it comes clothed in dirty mud, is much higher than many other items which may have a shine and glitter, but mediocre value.

This I am writing to express one of my ancient shocks, when I was given a very dazzling magazine for going through, and express my appreciation. I found the writing horrible, and the content level absolutely dull and zero in imagination. Yet, many of the persons present, with not much reading experience, giving out audible expressions of Woh!, Ah! etc. after gazing at the cover design done in PhotoShop application. I was deeply impressed by these dialogues, as in that very premises I had seen a collected works of Oscar Wilde* and a collected short stories of Somerset Maugham.  Both were famished looking old books; yet, though nobody around did take much notice of them, I do know that both these books are infinitely more valuable and of more profound significance and lingering value, than the colourful book that was everybody's object of adulation.