Translation and Modernity: Organic Intellectuals in Western India Under Colonialism
Translation and Modernity: Organic Intellectuals in Western India Under Colonialism

Summary/Abstract: In this article, I strive to investigate the growth of ‘translation’ and ‘modernity’ in Western India (now known as Maharashtra, one of the states in India) under colonialism. The secular education policy introduced in India in 1835 by East India Company inaugurated the surge in drama translations in Marathi (the official language of Maharashtra) in 1860. The contribution made by translators through one hundred and ten translations was predicated on the modern ideas transplanted into Marathi from European plays. However, these ideas profited only the upper-caste communities of the translators which were forward in what concerned social practices, education, and upward mobility, as compared to the lower castes. Therefore, I argue that the upper caste translators performed the role of ‘organic intellectuals’, in the Gramscian sense, who were instrumental in the progress of their own communities. I also attempt to delve into the theory of translation which was inaugurated through these translations and deliberations around them held in Marathi newspapers and periodicals like Rangbhumi (Theatre), Vividhadnyanvistar (Diversity of Knowledge), Nibandhmala (Garland of Essays), and Ratnakar (The Ocean of Gems) during the colonial period. The year 1912 saw the curtailing of translations since nativist playwrights sought plots in the native literary traditions and Indian epics like “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata” and fashioned indigenous modernity in their plays which resulted in a revolt against British rule.

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