Name: Soumya Sharma

Roll no: 20/29030

Paper title: Indian Writing in English

Teacher’s name: Ranu Kunwar

Date of submission: 23 Jul 2021

Question 2: Critically examine any three issues outlined in Divided by a Common

Language: The Novel in India in English and in English Translation by Meenakshi

Mukherjee.

Meenakshi Mukherjee is an Indian writer, most well known for her work The Perishable

Empire. She won the Sahitya Akademi award for the same in 2003. Her other work writings,

such as Twice Born Fiction (1971) and Realism and Reality (1985) also deal with how

English colonialism helped shape the growth of English language.

The essay Divided by a Common Language is the last chapter of The Perishable Empire,

where she reflects on the growth of the English translations of regional language texts and the

simultaneous decline of inter regional translated writings in India. She also talks about the

reduction of the youth knowing the regional Indian languages due to the “global

monolingualism” and worldwide monopoly of the English language, and the resulting lack of

attention given to regional language texts on the international platform. Mukherjee, in

Divided by a Common Language, claims that "The translation of novel from an Indian

language to another which was a major conduit of cultural transmission within the country for

nearly a century, seems to have declined in recent decades to make way for a new activity

which is fast growing in visibility --- the translation of Italian Language fiction into English."

She gives multiple reasons for this decline of Indian languages. She states that two languages
coming from the same subcontinent tend to generate some similarities such that language is

never a barrier for readers across the country to study a text, as compared to translating any

text to the "master language" English, where navigating semantic and cultural barriers to

retain the original meaning and essence remains an arduous process. The audience for an

English language translation was also an indeterminable variable; at least while translating

into a regional language, the audience was defined and well known. She says that these

translated texts have lesser prominence and translation into Indian languages is an activity

"neglected", apart from major languages as Hindi and Malayalam, and that too only in

dramas whereas major English publishers are racing to add translated texts in their collections

of books. Though some translation work does still happen, they are all sponsored by

government entities and not from public interest. Proficiency in multiple Indian languages in

any person is now a trait hard to come by, which has also contributed to the decline of texts

translated into regional languages. Mukherjee notices if the younger generation knows

English they find it unnecessary to learn any Indian Language, leading to a global

monolingualism. Mukherjee also notes how English novels now have a bigger market

encompassing an all of urban India and whole of English speaking countries as compared to

novels in regional Indian languages. She compares the scope of regional fiction translated

into English in the 1960s and now, noting the expansive reach of this genre. She does

mention, however, since only English language literature is being exported internationally,

and only English writing Indian authors are taken up as the sole voice of the whole nation, it

leads to an erasure of diversity. University curricula, Mukherjee points out, doesn't pay much

attention to English translated texts of regional origin on the argument that students should be

given books that are composed in that language. " She claims that these texts often have in

them multiple layers that are composed of specifically Indian variables, such as caste and

class divides and kinship and ritual patterns, "often refusing easy accessibility to those
outside the culture.", citing the example of Bharatipura. She says that this is one of the major

reasons these texts, often more nuanced than the Indian writings in English which are picked

up, are ignored. The India created by Indian writers in English is often built for a more

heterogeneous audience than regional novels are, and hence this leads to certain shifts in

representation. The class differences lead to different visions and portrayals, as these issues

affect the local writer and audience more than do a writer writing about them for an

international audience. She notes how the regional novels seem more involved in the "local

and particular" whereas English language novels feel more pressured to look "Indian" and fit

into the barriers imposed by the language and certain paradigms. Certain concepts and

phrases are linked to India in international popular imagination, so English and diasporic

writers must play with these to address the appeal audience and question their Indianness,

while regional texts address the intricate matters of caste, community, religion and language

amongst others.

She concludes by saying that though Indian English and regional novels will continue to face

this inequality, the English novel can never take the place of the references and allusions

made to the culture in regional novels, especially not in translations, and addresses how the

domestic Indian market is large enough to justify a growth in these translations into English.

Mukherjee's work strikes more of a cord when read in relation to other Indian writings. She

makes a statement similar to that of Bruce King in his Modern Indian Poetry where he says

that Indian writers in the English language are mostly of "families that have already been

partly westernised. They often do not have local roots, or have been brought up in urban

centres or studied or travelled abroad during their formative years." These statements are

visible in the stories of Rohinton Mistry and Anita Desai. In Swimming Lessons, Rohinton

writes of Indian culture in a way that is simplistic enough to understand for the western

audience, but intricate enough that Indian audience can relate to, as when he speaks of ration
shops and the various festivals celebrated like Ganesh Chaturthi. In Desai's In Custody, she

uses Fahrenheit instead of the Celsius used in India, to make the situation more coherent to

international readers. Mukherjee gives an elaborate picture of the slow death of regional

language writings and mutual translations into other Indian languages. Few novels are read

and appreciated as she believes they ought to be, as they give a more intricate and detailed

story of Indian issues such as caste hierarchy, religion and linguistic politics. She cites

various examples to support her claims and ends her essay on an optimistic note that the

market looking for translations of regional language texts into English will lead to a growth

in their publishing.