The translation process in any literature known around the world has yielded enormous results. The initial impact of translating from one source to another comes as a tribute in the understanding of one culture on the part of another person living in a totally different cultural milieu. Most of us are aware of the impact of the translations of works in Sanskrit and Pali into Sinhala for a long time.
They resulted in the growth of the local literary works paving the way to enter into other languages as well. What is now known as English literature is a result of the translation of works from Latin, Greek, Spanish, French, Russian, Italian and works from oriental languages down the centuries. Nobody is going to have a dispute with me for stating this fact. Thus, the translation process is not only needed, but also an essential factor.
Human message
In this background, we presume the function of the translator of one culture into another, but also as a sensitive and resourceful conveyor of a human message and/or creativity from one culture to another. In this respect, the two translators I happened to encounter in the current Sinhala literary scene in our culture come as resourceful messengers.
They are Sathyapala Galketiya and Nimal Jayaratne who have embarked on collections of short stories from the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Galketiya’s translation is titled Aliya Aturudan (Elephant Vanishes) and Jayaratne’s collection as Gahanu Netiva (Men Without Women). Perhaps this is the first time that the Sinhala reader gets the chance of knowing the creative spirit in Haruki Murakami.
One significant factor pertaining to the two translated collections could be laid as the chance of getting into groups with some of the experimental writings in Japanese creative writing translations. The reader feels that Murakami is not at all tradition-bound following the trends laid down in the annals short narrative writing known to the reader down the ages. Murakami is seen as a writer who penetrates a simple human experience that develops into a panoramic vision. One good example could be drawn from Galketiya’s translation that bears the title Elephant Vanishes.
Here the reader sees a certain sensitive person, the persona of the narrative seeing a news item in a newspaper embarks gradually into the following the story and an investigative discoverer. But the attempt on his part may be envisaged as a futile attempt for he never knows who the elephant vanished. He, the persona of the narrative takes the reader into his world of reality and fantasy. Similarly, another example from Jayaratne’s collection could be cited. This is the story titled ‘Drive My Car’ (Gamanak Atara). This too is an experimental psychological creative piece that centres around an owner of an old car who is seen in need of a driver. The driver strangely to be a woman who functions not only as a mere driver but also as a companion who comes out with various types of human experiences.
Unfolding narrative
The reader, as I see comes to know of this innerness of this experience. As the narrative unfolds, the reader comes to know that the protagonist of the story is an actor who is married. His wife had given birth to a child who is no more. Then comes the turn of the female driver who so is selected to know about him. As s driver, she has more free time but is perhaps faced to work during the nights, as her employer is seen working more at night than during the daytime. The reader gradually comes to know two stories or two human experiences linked to each other.
There are more dialogues than actual descriptions. They cultivate in knowing each other that is depicted as the most essential human factor needed for their mutual understanding while driving, the female driver gets the chance of listening to him. He comes to feel that he had got the right kind of listener. She, the driver, too comes to feel that she too had come to work with the right person.
The narrative in many ways in unconventional and gripping. Perhaps these narratives and the translations are concerned cannot be classed as short stories that we encounter in many other collections. The two narratives cited could be regarded as short narratives or long short stories. All these go to say that the short story genre is changing from both content and structure.
These two collections are ample testimony to visualise the change. One significant factor that comes to the mind of a reader may be the transforming literary changes in modern creative forms. These two collections of short narratives by Haruki Murakami shows this factor as an essential and inevitable creative factor. As I was reading these two contributions, I felt that Murakami is a creator who has regarded his creative communication not as a fashionable trend, but as a new trendsetter in the Japanese narrative form known as a representative of the ‘floating world’ concept laid down over the years. Murakami is shown as a sensitive observer of human experience and a conveyor of the same in various psychological streams.
Thus two tributes from Japan are seen emerging.
