CU to set up translation, literary geography centre
Times of India | 6 October 2024
Kolkata: Calcutta University is set to establish the ‘Centre for Translation and Literary Geography’ to understand the intrinsic relationship between geographical diversity of our country and literature.
The centre’s focus will also be on working with marginal or highly-endangered languages and create a pool of translation practitioners, who will not only be equipped with modern tools and resources but will also have the knowledge about the diverse translation traditions in the country.
The decision to set up the centre was taken at a Syndicate meeting in Aug and was approved by the authority in Sept.
Interim vice-chancellor Santa Datta De said, “It is an important and timely initiative. An advisory committee has also been formed to chalk out the future plans for the committee.” Founder coordinator of the centre, Mrinmoy Pramanick, said, “Through translation, we will attempt to comprehend the literature of vast geographical diversity. For instance, instead of dividing West Bengal as a Bengali-speaking region, we are categorizing it by the Sundarbans, plateaus, hills, valleys and coastlines. Each of these geographical areas has its distinct identity, and through translation, we will try to connect the literature of these identities.”
According to him, the new centre will work on translating and preserving the languages and cultures of the tribal groups in Bengal. “We will translate from these languages to Bengali or English, and vice-versa, to enrich the literary scope and the languages themselves,” added Pramanick. The center also plans to conduct training throughout the year to develop translators and start an internship program for college students.
“We will soon begin a 21-day intensive translation training course, tentatively in Dec. This is also about embarking on a new research project to develop the grammar of the Toto language and has plans to conduct field-based translation studies in several remote areas of Bengal,” Pramanick said.