‘The translator needs to identify with the original work’

Swapna Dutta has been a writer for several decades now, mostly of children’s books, with more than 50 titles to her name, including several translations. She speaks to Guardian 20 about her latest project, Second Encounter, which is an English translation of the Bengali classic novella, Je Jekhane Danriye, which was turned into a popular film in 1974 and was broadcast as a radio play by All India Radio. Dutta talks to us about what it takes to translate a classic of modern Bengali literature. A. If the reader is an Indian, there is hardly any difficulty about understanding the nuances of Bengali culture because it is a culture shared by all Indians. There could be local customs, traditions and practices which are different. But a competent translator would weave the explanation into the text in such a way that there would be no difficulty in following it. If the original mentions a practice or tradition which is very unusual, a footnote might be required. But it is seldom necessary. Again, it largely depends on the expertise of the translator.