Translations in Sri Lankan fiction

by G.A. MATHUPEMA

Literary works of a nation form a vital aspect of the culture of that country. When the world of literature of a particular nation is translated into another language, the literature of the latter community is enriched. Thus the translation of literary work helps the dissemination of culture.

History of translation of literary works in Sinhala, dates far back to the time of the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, nearly two thousand years ago.

At that early age, followers of Ven. Mahinda Thero translated Buddhist literature which as in Pali or Magadhi into early Sinhala Language, which was very different from modern Sinhala.

I dare not extend the scope of my discussion to such wide horizons. I am going to limit myself to the works of literature translated into Sinhala from the middle of the nineteenth century up to now.

For convenience of the discussion I would like to classify translations of literary work into 3 main categories. First one is where literary works from world literature are translated into Sinhala from the English version.

Original works are first translated into English and thence to Sinhala. The second category is translation of world classics first hand from the original to Sinhala. The third one is the translation of important work in Sinhala to English or other foreign languages such as French, Russian, Japanese etc.

Translations of English fiction into Sinhala dates as far back as the last decades of the nineteenth century. One of the earliest translations was John Bunyans “Pilgrims Progress”.

It is considered as a work of fiction in the formative stage of the English novel. It was translated into Sinhala as ‘Vandanakarayage Gamana’ by Izac Perera. Another early novel “Gulliver’s Travels” was translated into Sinhala as ‘Galiwarge Charika’ by A.P. Gunaratna. The same work had been translated into Sinhala as ‘Galiwarayanaya’ by Martin Wickramasinghe.

Another early translation of a collection of stories was the “Arabian Nights”. It was translated into Sinhala by the pioneer Sinhala novelist Bentota Albert Silva. Not only did it make a strong impression on the reading public of Sri Lanka, it also paved the way for the development of Sinhala fiction.

Subsequently novels of major fiction writers in English had been translated into Sinhala. Novels of Jane Austen, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and a host of other novelists have been translated into Sinhala.

Among the translators Cyril Perera and Chandra Anagiratna are noteworthy. K.G. Karunatilleke has translated ‘She’ by Ryder Haggard as ‘Aa Hewath Ayesha.’ Chandra Anagiratna has translated Rip Van Winkle by Washinton Irwin. He also has translated “Doctor Jekyl and Mr.Hyde” by Robert Stevenson and “Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelly.

Works of modern English fiction writers also have been translated into Sinhala. Among them D.H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” had been translated as ‘Chatterly Aryawage Pemwatha’, ‘Somerset Maughm’s “Roazor’s Edge” has been translated as ‘Sasara Duka.’

For the development of Sinhala fiction, a vast contribution had been made by the translation of classical works of fiction in Russian literature. In this respect names of the versatile translators have to be mentioned. They are Cyril C. Perera and K.G. Karunathilleke.

Cyril C. Perera had translated into Sinhala, the renowned classical Sinhala novel “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy as ‘Yuddaya ha Samaya.’ It is a very long novel and the translation was an arduous task. Moreover this translation is very close to the original.

The other famous classical Russian novel “Brothers Karamazov” had been translated into Sinhala as ‘Karamason Sahodarayo’ by the same author. The famous Classical Russain novel “Crime and Punishment” by Dostoevsky has been translated as ‘Aparadaya ha Danduwama’ by Munidasa Senarat Yapa.

These translations had a profound impact on the Sinhala reader. Sinhala fiction writers whose knowledge of English was poor and could not read these novels, were immensely benefited by these translations.

It also must be borne in mind that one of the earliest translations of Russian literature to Sinhala was Ven. Udakendawala Siri Saranankara Thero.

It was he who translated the great Russian novel “Mother” by Maxim Gorky as ‘Amma’. Later the same novel was translated into Sinhala by Senaratna Weerasinghe.

Then the same novel was translated into Sinhala by Dedigama Rodrigo from original Russian to Sinhala. Dedigama Rodrigo is another name that must be remembered as a versatile translator of Russian fiction.

Unlike other translators who translated Russian literature from English versions, he translated originally from Russian into Sinhala. Then there is Ananda Amarasiri, who translated the famous Russian novel “Resurrection” into Sinhala as ‘Nawa Jeewanaya’ and “Happy Ever After” as ‘Manmulawa’. He also translated the novel “The Double” by Dostovsky as ‘Samaruupiya’.

A collection of short stories by famous dramatist and fiction writer Anton Chekov was translated into Sinhala by Dhanapala Weerasinghe. In the renaissance of Sinhala literature that began somewhere round the middle of fifties, Professor E.R. Sarachchandra along with A.P. Gunaratna had selected and translated a collection of Russian short stories representing the great Russian short story writers. Title of the book was ‘Rusian Ketikatha’.

It contained translations of short stories by Chekov, Turgeinew, Gorki and c. These translations were lucid and were written in the tone and style very close to the original. While going through these the reader feels the pathos of human life.

There is a host of other translators who sought to translated works of Russian literature into Sinhala. Among them Mahendra Senanayaka who translated “Father Sergius” as ‘Wiratharatha’, C.A. Piyaratne who translated “Rudiri” by Turgeneiv as ‘Ahethuwa,’ and Ahangama Piyasinghe who translated “Mamw” by Turgeneiv by the same name “Mwmw” are to be remembered. D.S. Mayadunne who translated “Duel” by Chekov as ‘Dwanda Satana’ and “Death of Ivan Illeich” as Ivan ‘Illichge Maranaya’ also is noteworthy. It has to be emphatically stated that these translations immensely influenced the Sinhala fiction writers in the second half of the twentieth century not to mention its strong impact upon the reading public in Sinhala.

Translations of French literature also made a profound contribution to the development of Sinhala literature. Most of these translations were made from English versions of French fiction.

Translations of short stories by that great French short story writer Guy De Maupassant influenced the Sinhala short story writer very much. A translation of a selected French short stories went by the name ‘Pransha Keti Katha.’

Among pioneer translators of French short stories was professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra. Coming to later times, Dhanapala Weerasinghe brought out a collection of short stories selected and translated from the short stories selected Guy De Maupassant.

Then the veteran translator Cyril C Perera translated a famous novel by Flanbart, the famous French fiction writer as ‘Emma Bowari’. The works of serious French writers such as Albert Camus also have been translated into Sinhala. His controversial novel “Outsider” had been translated into Sinhala as ‘Pitastharaya’. This raised a hornets nest among the Sinhala readers.

Then his great novel “The Plague” has been translated into Sinhala as ‘Mahamariya’. The sense of humanity in the original work was well brought home to the Sinhala reader through this clever translation. In recent times, we come across some translators who have translated French literary works originally from French. Among these writers the name of Madawala Pannavamsa Thero is noteworthy.

Many literary works from American literature also have been translated into Sinhala. Among them novels of Mark Twain are prominent. Chandra Anagiratna has taken the lead in these translations. He translated the novel “Tom Sowyer” as ‘Tom Soyar’. Then he translated “Hucklebury Finn” as ‘Hakalbarige Hapankam’.

He also has translated “The Prince and Pauper” as ‘Raja patiya ha Hingana Patiya’. The same novel has been translated by Rani Rajapaksa. The famous novel “Old Man And the Sea” has been translated as ‘Mahalla saha Muhuda’. This novel by Hemingway conveyed quite a novel experience to the Sinhala reader and made its contribution to widen the horizons of the Sinhala reader.

Translations of Italian literature also played its role in enriching modern Sinhala literature. The short stories of Alberto Moravia, the famous Italian fiction writer were translated into Sinhala. One such translation was “Women of Rome” which was translated into Sinhala as Puragana by Lila Anuruddhika Kulatillele. The same has been translated by Munidasa Senarat Yapa.

The “Voyeur” by Alberto Moravia had been translated as ‘Yathuru Siduren Ebibalanna’ by Aruna Premaratna. T. Andradi has translated “Bread and Wine” by Ignatio Seylani as ‘Paan Saha Wine’. “Pontamara” and “Luka” by Ignatio Seylani were translated into Sinhala as ‘Pontamara’ and ‘Luka’ respectively.

Ileen Siriwardana, veteran Sinhala writer also has taken the initiative in translating short stories of Alberto Moravia.

A large number of Japanese classical works of fiction have been rendered into Sinhala. Not only have they broadened the outlook of the Sinhala reading public, but also they have enriched the experience of the Sinhala fiction writer who has no other access to the world literature.

The short stories and novels of Kavabata, the stalvert of Japanese literature have been translated into Sinhala. Jayantha Wimalasena had translated the novel “Yukigini” by Kavabata as ‘Himabimba’. Then Kavabata’s novel “Beauty and Sadness” has been translated as ‘Sonduru Dukbara Diviya’ by Ananda Amarasiri. The novel “Lake” by Kavabata has been translated as ‘Vila’ by Vimaladasa Amarasinghe.

He also has translated the famous novel by Kawabata “Thiusand Craves” as ‘Kokun Dahasa.’ The last novel written by Kavabata before he committed suicide “The Decay of the Angel” has been translated into Sinhala as ‘Siduloli Selaruwa’.

“Some Prefer Nettles” is a novel by Tadekumusi and it was translated into Sinhala as ‘Samahara Kahabiliyawalata Kamaththoya’. A novel by Junisiro Trnisaki The Diary of a Mad Old Man has been translated into Sinhala as Umathu Mahallekuge Dinapotha by Thomson Vendabona. Matiyagane Kulatilleke has translated Yukio Misimas’ “Thirst for Love” as ‘Nothith Kulagana.’

Fiction works in English by Sri Lankan writers have been translated into Sinhala. In this respect works by Dr. R.L. Spittel are significant. Almost all the fiction works by him such as “Savage Sanctuary” “Vanished Trails”, “Far Off Things”, “Wild White Boy” and “Whose the Sambhur Roams” have been very well translated into Sinhala. Among the translators of these novels Jayaweera Vijayapala is very important.

Translations of “Village in the Jungle” Leonard Wolf makes a landmark in the translation literature of Sri Lanka. There is an interesting story about this. While writing “Village in the Jungle”, Leonard Wolf was describing a certain creeper found in Sri Lankan jungles.

He could not find an exact word for this. He used few sentences to describe it. But its translator, A.P. Gunaratna immediately identified the vine as Navahandi and used this term in the translation.

Important works of Commonwealth literature have been translated into Sinhala literature. Commonwealth literature, according to Professor Walsh, an authority on Commonwealth literature is far ahead of the contemporary European fiction. Fiction works of African writers such as Chinua Achebe from Africa, R.K. Narayan from India and a host of other novels have been translated into Sinhala.

In a discussion of this nature we can’t afford to omit the translation of Latin American literature into Sinhala.

In this respect the name Gamini Viyangoda cannot be forgotten. Initially, he translated a collection of short stories by Latin American writers into Sinhala, by the title ‘Ragaridma’.

I think I am not mistaken if I say that this is the first attempt ever made to introduce Latin American literature into Sinhala.

The selection of short stories has been very carefully made representing almost all the great writers of Latin American fiction, such as Garcia Marcaise, Milan Kundera and Esabell Ayiyande. The classic Latin American novel “Love in the time of Cholera has been rendered into Sinhala ‘Kolara kalaye Alaya.’

I could humbly say now I have made an attempt to make a general survey of the translation of some great works of fiction of world literature into Sinhala.

We can make the following conclusions about those translations.

Some tribulations have been done very faithfully to the original, but the some of those are alien to Sinhala reader.

In some translations social milieu forming the background of the original work of fiction has been modified, in varying degrees, to bring home the theme of the work of fiction to the Sinhala reader.

Then there are some other translations in which the translator had added new ideas in order to make the translation intelligible to the Sinhala reader. Some times those accretions are relevant to the original. There are instances where new additions are misleading.

(Excerpts of a speech made at the NIE)