TRANSLATION OF LITERATURE AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION: A RE-APPRAISAL

North-east India, being the homeland of a large number of ethnic communities, varieties of languages and literature necessitates translation in order to be expressed and appreciated well by their neighbours and outsiders. Not only in the field of literature but in the field of art and culture, music and dance etc, has translation played a vital role in bridging the gap among different groups. Therefore, prospects of Comparative Literature are in high esteem in the perspectives of literature from north-east India. While accepting and appreciating the concept of translation and prospect of Comparative literature in the context of north-east India, this paper is an attempt to look into two issues related to these concepts – i) Translation of literature from north-east India into English and/or other Indian/north-east Indian languages and ii) Re-examine/problematize the concept of ‘national integration'. My argument is to propose an alternative to translation of north-east Indian literature into English. The concept of ‘national integration' is a complex issue which needs to be addressed differently. I would suggest that instead of the American idea of ‘melting pot' and national integration at the cost of curtailing the differences, we should try to develop a sense of respect for differences.