In Search of Sundaram: Of Cultural Translation and Literary Historiography

Abstract

The translator’s invisibility in literary cultures has often been examined at the linguistic and textual levels in complete disregard of how a translator can perform critical functions within hegemonic cultures and reconstitute literary histories. Translators can unpack the politics behind the way in which a translation (re)constructs images of texts and authors in literary cultures. By examining the conflicted creative trajectory of Gujarati writer Sundaram, the article seeks to investigate the historical processes responsible for the volte face in the poet’s literary and cultural ideologies, something which delayed the official arrival of Gujarati Dalit literature by a good half century. The article flags the commonality of concerns in the poet’s early work and Gujarati Dalit writing to reconstitute the canons of Dalit and Lalit literatures conceptually and historically. Finally, it tries to foreground the role of discursive paratextuality in renewing the discourse on caste from newer historical standpoints and ideological positions.