Sensitive Reading: The Pleasures of South Asian Literature in Translation

by Yigal Bronner (Editor), Charles Hallisey (Editor)

Overview

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org.

What are the pleasures of reading translations of South Asian literature, and what does it take to enjoy a translated text? This volume provides opportunities to explore such questions by bringing together a whole set of new translations by David Shulman, noted scholar of South Asia. The translated selections come from a variety of Indian languages, genres, and periods, from the classical to the contemporary. The translations are accompanied by short essays written to help readers engage and enjoy them. Some of these essays provide background to enhance reading of the translation, whereas others model how to expand appreciation in comparative and broader ways. Together, the translations and the accompanying essays form an essential guide for people interested in literature and art from South Asia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520384484
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	01/25/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	284
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Yigal Bronner is Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Charles Hallisey is Yehan Numata Senior Lecturer on Buddhist Literatures at Harvard Divinity School. 

David Shulman is Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Table of Contents

Introduction Yigal Bronner Charles Hallisey 1

Unit I Retelling Nala 19

1 Shriharsha's Sanskrit Life of Naishadha: Translators Note and Text 23

Points and Progression: How to Read Shriharsha's Life of Naishadha Gary Tubb

If I'm Reading You Right: Reading Bodies, Minds, and Poetry in Life of Naishadha Thibaut d'Hubert

2 Ativirarama Pandyan's Tamil Life of Naidatha: Translators Note and Text 36

Hearing and Madness: Reading Ativirarama Pandyan's Life of Naidatha N. Govindarajan

How We Read Sheldon Pollock

3 Malamangala Kavi's Malayalam Naishadha in Our Language: Translator's Note and Text 52

I Talk to the Wind: Malamangala Kavi's Naishadha in Our Language Sivan Goren-Arzony

In the Garden of Love: An Essay on Naishadha in Our Language Meir Shahar

Unit II What Does it Mean to be "Modern" in Telugu? 63

4 "Khwaja the Dog-Worshiper" from The Story of the Four Dervishes: Translator's Note and Text 67

How Not to See a Dog- Worshiper Jamal A. Jones

A Historian Reads a Fable Muzaffar Alam

5 "Touch" by Abburi Chayadevi: Translator's Note and Text 84

How to Touch "Touch" Gautham Ready

"Don't Stand So Close to Me!": Remarks on Chayadevi's "Touch" Sanjay Subrahmanyam

6 "A Street Pump in Anantapuram" and Five Other Poems by Mohammad Ismail: Translator's Note and Text 94

Speaking of Landscapes, Revolutionaries, and Donkeys: Ismail's Words and Images Afsar Mohammad

Between Sky and Road: The Wandering Scholar, Modernism, and the Poetry of Ismail Gabriel Levin

Unit III The Love of Music and the Music of Love 111

7 The Music Contest from Tiruttakkatevar's Tamil Chivakan's Gem: Translators Note and Text 115

Love in Defeat Talia Ariav

Sweetness That Melts the Heart Kesavan Veluthat

What's Gained in Translation Sonam Kachru

8 Two Songs by Muttuswami Dikshitar, Performed by T.M. Krishna and Eileen Shulman: Translator's Note, Texts, and Recordings 132

Beyond Passion, Beyond Even the Raga T.M. Krishna

Reading Is an Act of Trust Donald R. Davis, Jr.

Unit IV The Vagaries of Love 149

9 Desire and Passion Ride to War (Unknown Artist): Selector's Note 153

Pillars of Love: A Dialogic Reading of Temple Sculpture Anna Lise Seastrand

Side Observation of a Small Portion of Varadaraja Temple Tawfiq Da'adli

10 Ravana Visits Sita at Night in the Ashoka Grove, from Kamban's Tamil Ramayana: Translator's Note and Text 165

Kamban's Tamil as a Kind of Sanskrit Whitney Cox

Can Darkness Stand before Light? Encountering an Episode from a Medieval Tamil Masterpiece Yehoshua Granat

11 When a Mountain Rapes a River, from Bhattumurti's Telugu Vasu's Life: Translators Note and Text 178

Irreconcilable Differences and (Un)Conventional Love in Bhattumurti's Vasu's Life Ilanit Loewy Shacham

Desire, Perception, and the Poetry of Desire: A Reading of Vasu's Life Deven M. Patel

Unit V Love's Interior Landscapes: Four Selections from Tamil Sangam Poetry 193

12 "Ten on the Wild Boar": Translator's Note and Text 197

Reading "Ten on the Wild Boar" Archana Venkatesan

13 Three Poems about Love's Inner Modes: Translator's Note and Text 206

Between Us: Reading Tamil Akam Poems Jennifer Clare

The Unbaked Clay Pot in Pouring Rain: Reading Sangam Poetry Today R. Cheran

Unit VI Who Am I When I'm Reading You? 219

14 Nammalvar's Tamil A Hundred Measures of Time: Translator's Note and Text 223

"You Came So That We May Live" Anand Venkatkrishnan

Taking the Measure of A Hundred Measures Andrew Ollett

15 A Persian Ghazal by Hafez and an Urdu Ghazal by Ghalib: Translators Note and Text 234

The Layered Thought-World of the Ghazal Rajeev Kinra

The Ghazal of What's More Than Real Peter Cole

Afterword Wendy Doniger 248

Acknowledgments 253

Notes 255

Contributors 261

Index 265