Not Lost in Translation: Culture, Identity and Odia Issues in the Translations of Himansu Sekhar Mohapatra

Translation involves both the human factor and the language. By human factor we mean the political, social, gender-based identity along with the ethical, moral judgments. The moral stands stem from person's experience of various socio-cultural phenomenon and events. When such stands lead to stereotypical mindset on the parts of translator, the norms and regulations of translation come handy to save the day. As culture and norms are two different domains there are instances of conflict between them. A good translator always strikes a balance between the two. Of late literary translation has been a vehicle for transmission of own culture, identity and issues. Translation is being used as a metaphorical passport for transporting the indigenous culture from margin to the centre through text. A study of translated works from 1995s till 2010 in Odisha saw a surge of exotropic translation when more than 100 texts were translated from Odia to English. Himansu S. Mohapatra rightly points out, “there are so many ways in which translation can mirror the layered nature of culture.” (Mohapatra, 91-92). This paper synoptically analyses the corpus of translation done by Himansu Sekhar Mohapatra and how as a contemporary translator he values his own culture and establishes it in global forum. Being a professor of English he is cautious of norms and principles of translation, at the same time as an Odia he goes extra mile to preserve the original meanings, emotions and ethos not being lost in translation.