Understanding Transliteration and Translation in The

Goddess of Revenge
DHANYA JOHNSON
Abstract
Language is rooted in culture and Translation Studies has
evolved as an effective communication tool between cultures.
The present study “Understanding Transliteration and
Translation in The Goddess of Revenge” is an exploration into
how transliteration and translation prove to be significant in
the understanding and retaining the culture that prevailed in a
Namboothiri community through the English translation of
“Prathikaaradevatha”, i.e. “The Goddess of Revenge” by
Lalithambika Antharjanam. The study also intends to analyse
the ideological and historical role of women in language and
see how translation helps in presenting the female self to
deconstruct the prevalent patriarchal hegemony in a global
scenario. It enables the transmission of knowledge as well as
culture in a globalised society. Thus the concept of culture,
identity and gender is made universal through the linguistic
study of translation thereby communicating cultural customs
across the world.
Keywords: Translation, Transliteration, Culture, Identity,
Gender, Language.
Widespread immigration in these days of globalization, a
multicultural and multilingual society demands the need for
Transliteration and translation, the two allied fields of
language studies. It has turned out to be an effective
communication tool between different cultures, which enables
the transmission of knowledge, development of economy and a
protector of cultural heritage. Thus translated literature not
only leads the readers to their respective language, but it also
points the way to other languages. According to I. A. Richards

DOI: 10.46623/tt/2021.15.2.no2 Translation Today, Volume 15, Issue 2

Dhanya Johnson

“Translation probably is the most complex type of event yet

produced in the evolution of the cosmos” (13).
The present study “Understanding Transliteration and
Translation in The Goddess of Revenge” is an exploration into
how transliteration and translation prove to be significant in
the understanding and retaining the culture that prevailed in a
Namboothiri community through the English translation of
“Prathikaaradevatha”, i.e. “The Goddess of Revenge” by
Lalithambika Antharjanam. Unfolding the raging spirit of the
oppressed women flaring up against the patriarchal society,
Lalithambika Antharjanam foregrounds the powerful
indictment of the sexual and emotional exploitation of women
perpetrated by men in a male-dominated society through the
real-life story of Kuriyedathu Tatri and at the same time
juxtaposing her own dilemma when she decided to write a
story in a patriarchal society through “The Goddess of
Revenge”. In emphasizing the crucial historical and
ideological role of gender in language, by underscoring the
role of subjectivity in framing and reclaiming meaning,
feminist translators foreground the cultural identity of women
(Simon 1996: 133).
The story translated by Gita Kishnankutty focuses on retaining
certain expressions and trans-creation of female identity and
gender roles performed which are crucial in the understanding
of the work to its fullest. Thus, the concepts of culture,
identity and gender are made universal through the linguistic
study of translation thereby communicating cultural customs
across the world. According to Newmark, culture is "The way
of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community
that uses a particular language as its means of expression"
(1988: 94). A probe into translation enables one to intervene in
linguistic aspects and a global discursive rendezvous.

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 Understanding Transliteration and Translation in The Goddess of Revenge

Spivak emphasizes that the “task of the feminist translator is to

consider language as a clue to the workings of gendered
agency” (Spivak 1993: 179). At the outset itself, Lalithambika
Antharjananm is in a dilemma when she decided to write a
story. She felt that for a woman to write a story is not easy.
The status and prestige of a high-born prevented her from
expressing her true feelings and emotions. Another factor that
troubled her as a writer was the choice of subject matter.
Subjects like contemporary issues, religion and caste are very
sensitive and as a writer, she must be prepared to face a
massive amount of criticism. There is also a chance of the
critics to use obscene language. The writer is also not sure
whether she could defend herself when confronted with the
opponent’s obscene language. Expressing her doubts and
anxieties and at last coming up with the life of a woman,
Kuriyedathu Tatri whose name once horrified the people and
was even forbidden to utter. She was looked upon by society
as “a fallen and disgraced woman”. It could be seen that both
Lalithambika Antharjanam, through her writing and Tatri,
through her life defied the gender roles ascribed by society.
Thus writing and translating the female self contains in
rendering the body and soul of the female protagonists and
informing the world, the discontent against patriarchal
hegemony.
Since proper nouns like the names of persons, places, things
etc are predetermined or accepted by a particular community
for a considerable period of time, they could only be
transliterated. Transliteration is to write or describe words or
letters using letters of a different alphabet or language
(Wehmeier, McIntosh, Turnbull, & Ashby 2005: 1632). Thus
in the story, the author Lalithmbika Antharjanam herself
becomes the character as the story unravels itself at the
juncture when the writer in her dreams encounters the spirit of
Tatri who narrates the latter’s predicament of being born in a

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Namboodiri community and the whole plot of hers is taking

revenge against the menfolk. The names, Lalithmbika
Antharjanam and Kuriyedathu Tatri itself reveal the
community to which they belong which remains the same in
the source language and the translated work. Again the use of
names like Parasurama, Shilavathi and so on from Puranas are
also noteworthy. Thus the expression “this land of
Parasurama” and “I was another Shilavathi” are examples to
acknowledge this point. Parasurama is believed to be the sixth
avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism and Shilavathi is believed to be a
chaste and dutiful wife in the Puranas. Again the use of words
like “Antharjanam” and “Namboothiri” are retained to convey
the cultural and social milieu since the whole story revolves
around the Namboothiri Community and the predicament of
Antharjanams in a patriarchal society (Antharjanam: 71- 72).
A translation tells us the meaning of words or expressions in
another language. But a transliteration doesn’t tell us the
meaning of the words, it helps us pronounce them. The whole
culture of a society could be recreated in a translated work
through transliteration. Thus the lines “she wove chains of the
sacred karuka grass”, “singing the Parvathiswayamvaraam, the
Mangalayathira and other auspicious wedding songs …”,
“Even while struggling with the prickly, exasperating Kuvala
flowers, our hearts are full of the fragrance of mango
blossoms”, “I offered ghee lamps and garlands of thumpa
flowers in the temple” etc evokes in the readers a nostalgia
which takes them to their homeland. The very essence is
retained through transliteration which otherwise leads to
incompleteness. Duranti (1997) has suggested that transcribing
spoken words into text is more than just writing; it is a process
or technique for the “fixing on paper of fleeting events” (p. 27)
The use of transliteration becomes relevant as socio-cultural
context need to be retained. A study by Nida and Taber

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 Understanding Transliteration and Translation in The Goddess of Revenge

(1969) showed that “if one is to insist that translation must

involve no loss of information whatsoever, then obviously not
only translating but all communication is impossible” (p. 13).
The use of expression “Karyasthan” rather than a manager,
“sinduram”, a product made from natural ingredients such as
turmeric and lemon, “samarthavicharam”, a kind of chastity
trial, a procedure followed by the Namboothiri community
against their girls or ladies if they were found guilty of
adultery or illicit sexual contact with men other than their
husband. It is a trial to punish the erring women of
Namboothiri community, “angavasthram”, a white piece of
cloth, traditionally worn by men of the Hindu community,
which is draped over the shoulders, “vaidikan”, a priest or a
preacher also add to the beauty of the story. Thus the process
of transformation of texts from one language to another is
embedded within the sociocultural context (Halai 2007). The
woman’s hatred for her cruel and immoral husband turned into
an act of revenge. She wanted to prove that women also have
pride and strength, desire and life in them. With vengeance,
she became a harlot and great men crowded around her.
Finally, when she was tried for ‘smarthavicharam’ she
challenged the authority that if she is to be excommunicated,
so be all the sixty-five men who slept with her. In the end,
Tatri succeeded in excommunicating all those men who
pretended to be self-respecting and pure.
There are also instances where transliteration is done to convey
ideas or emotions. Thus, for instance, it could be seen that
Tatri establishes secret illicit affairs with many prominent men
of the time as well as her husband who fails to recognize her.
But when she herself reveals the secret, she says “he looked at
my face and screamed, Ayyo, my Vadakkumnathan! It is Tatri!
Tatri!” The very concept of turning towards God is presented
with utmost effect when the author did the transliteration rather
than translating it. (Antharjanam 72). The words like ‘Ayyo’

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Dhanya Johnson

and ‘Vadakkumnathan’ are common words very familiar to a

native speaker which at once takes the reader to a
commonplace situation and evokes in them a familiarity. Nida
(1969: 12) defines translation as reproducing in the receptor
language the closest natural equivalent of the source language
message, first in terms of meaning and, secondly in terms of
style. Tatri lived in an era when women were considered
inferior to men and when the greed for flesh knew no bounds.
Women of the time were “weak and helpless” and had to
endure many injustices that were forced upon them by the
male-dominated patriarchal society. The men went out of their
way to seek immoral physical pleasure. It was against this
backdrop Tatri challenged the double standards that existed in
the society by her act of revenge and the author reiterated her
life through her work. It in turn dismantles the masculine
hegemony at play.
In the story after leaving her husband’s house, with hope of
relief Tatri goes to her parental house and much to her
disappointment finds it a kind of “prison”. Like any
Namboodiri household, her house was also an abode to many
distressed souls. Her dead father’s five wives, her elder
brother’s wives, her two widowed sisters, a mad sister who
was tortured by her Namboodiri husband and her two
unmarried younger sisters lived along with her mother in the
parental house. It was for her like “going from the frying pan
into the fire”. It could be analysed how the inner conflict and
emotions are put forth while translating the work as well. The
author rather than resorting to common idioms or phrases went
for the usage “going from the frying pan into the fire”, an exact
translation of a colloquial expression. The same goes with the
title of the story as well, in which “Prathikaaradevatha” is
literally translated to “Goddess of Revenge”.

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 Understanding Transliteration and Translation in The Goddess of Revenge

Translation is thus not only a reworking of work from the

source language to the target language, but also an act of
communication where culture, values, reality, social milieu etc
of a particular community gets communicated across cultures.
Thus House (2009) believes that translation is not only a
linguistic act, but it is also a cultural one. Writing a female self
and translating it becomes a means of self-empowerment.
Elaborating on the discourse of chastity in gender discourses
and deconstructing it through the life of Tatri and the courage
of the author to bring forth the whole idea before the readers
could be seen as a breakaway from the established constructs
thereby resulting in a new dialectics of linguistics and gender
signification. It could be concluded that Language is culturally
embedded which is inseparable.
References
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ANTHARJANAM, LALITHAMBIKA. 2016. The Goddess of
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HALAI, N . 2007. Making Use of Bilingual Interview Data:
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HOUSE, J. 2009. Translation. Oxford & New York: Oxford
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NEWMARK, P. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. New York:
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NIDA, E. A., & TABER, C. R. 1969. The Theory and Practice of
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NIDA, E. 1969. Science of Translation. Language.12.
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SIMON, SHERRY. 1996. Gender in Translation: Cultural

Identity and the Politics of Transmission. London & New
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Cite this Work:

JOHNSON, DHANYA. 2021. Understanding Transliteration and
Translation in The Goddess of Revenge. Translation Today,
Vol. 15(2). 247-254. DOI: 10.46623/tt/2021.15.2.no2

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