A Survey Of Translations Of Popular Literature Into Urdu

Journal of Xi’an Shiyou University, Natural Science EditionISSN : 1673-064XA Survey of Translations of Popular Literatureinto UrduDr. Faheemuddin Ahmed *, S M Fasiullah ***Department of Translation, Maulana Azad National Urdu University – MANUU, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, India**Department of English, Maulana Azad National Urdu University – MANUU, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, IndiaAbstract: Translation is a multifacetedprocess—linguistic, cultural, continuous andcontradictory. Any language benefits fromtranslation activity. Urdu also enriched itselfwith translation. Every translation is a part ofliterature, which is a translation in itself.Translation of literary works into Urdu is anold tradition. Popular literature has beentranslated into Urdu for over a century. Thetranslation activity played a very importantrole in the development of the Urdu language.This research surveys the translations ofpopular literature, especially focusing e fiction and non-fiction. It traces thetradition of translation of popular literatureinto Urdu with the aim to explore works andauthors while avoiding any critical analysis ofreasons for translation of those works.Keywords: Popular literature; Urdu translation;Detective fictionI. INTRODUCTIONTranslation is a multifaceted ictory. In view of this connotation, themedium of translation is language and itscontent is cultural. However, it is alsoVOLUME 16 ISSUE 9paradoxical because it simultaneously changesand preserves the original content. It is bothconservative and innovative. In fact, it is atwo-way process but its other way is seldombrought into focus. Translation is another kindof creative process and a translator isessentially a creator with abilities ofimagination and interpretation. Translation canalso be considered a two-way street. Althoughits external source of expression is language, itis like the veins in which the blood ofcivilization flows. Thus translation is in fact alinguistic process from a cultural point ofview. It is a path to reach the heart of anothercivilization. Translation is more of acontinuous process than an activity performedat one time. Because when a text is translated,it cannot be called a complete and finaltranslation. There always remains a scope for asecond or better translation. This feature istypically linked to creative writings. Literatureis a translation in itself and every translation isa part of literature. Of course, the statement isconditional on the extent of the freedom thatthe translator has. In this broader context, thisresearch surveys endeavors of various authorswho translated popular literature into Urdu. Itexplores various works and translators,categorizes the translated works into different267-271http://xisdxjxsu.asia/

Journal of Xi’an Shiyou University, Natural Science Editiongenres, and avoids any critical analysis of thereasons for translation of those works.II. TRANSLATION OF POPULARLITERATURE INTO URDUA clear objective of popular literature is toentertain the public.“Popular literature includes those writingsintended for the masses and those that findfavour with large audiences. It can bedistinguished from artistic literature in that it isdesigned primarily to entertain.” [EncyclopaediaBritannica]Right from English to Urdu and many otherliteratures, the tradition of producing literaturefor mass consumption is prevalent. In the Urduliterature, this tradition is older than a century.For this research, it is relevant to look at thetradition of translation in the Urdu literaturewhile surveying the translations of popularliterature.The Tradition of Translation in UrduTranslation from other languages into Urduis as old as the language itself. It has played avery important role in the development of theUrdu language. Literary translations of varioustexts into Urdu have enriched the languagewith new words, idioms, proverbs, sayings andscientific and literary ideas. Translations haveplayed an extraordinary role in the journey ofUrdu to become a regular scholarly andliterary language. Dr. Z. Ansari writes:“Urdu has become a regular language thanksto translations. As long as it was in the form ofkhari boli, no great writer considered it worthyof literary writing. Sometimes these translationswere in book form and sometimes in the form ofmere ideas, metaphors and terms. There is noroom for repeating history here. However, it isVOLUME 16 ISSUE 9ISSN : 1673-064Xcertain that in addition to Arabic, Persian,Sanskrit and English, translations andinterpreters of bhasha’en have a great influencein the development of Urdu language.”[ANSARI, 70]In fact, people who started writing poetry inUrdu in its initial days had Persian as theirliterary language. These poets composed Urdupoetry and literature under Persian influence.They also translated Persian works into Urdu.Gradually, these translators of the Urdulanguage started the literary journey of Urdu.Among these translators are Mulla Wajhi, whotranslated allegorical epic Dastur-e-Ishq asSub Ras (Fattahi Nishapuri); Shah MiranjiKhudanuma, who translated religious textTamhidaat-e-Ainul Qazat as Tamhidaat-eHamdani (Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani); ShahWaliullah Qadri, who translated work onmysticism Ma'rafat-e-Saluk (Shah ShaikhMahmood Khush Zuban Chishti); Fazl AliFazli, who translated epic Rozatus Shohada asKarbal Katha (Mulla Husayn Waiz Kashifi);and Malik Khushnood, who translated poeticwork Hasht Behesht as Jannat Singar (AmirKhusro). [Qadri, 115-137] Though thesetranslation endeavors must be acknowledged,the fact remains that neither the translatorswere professionals nor their translations wereliterary. By and large, these translatorsemployed the method of free translation.Therefore, their works appear natural insteadof translated texts. In absence of any formaland systematic rules for translation, thesetranslators apparently followed their ownwisdom.Apart from these translations, Persian storyBagh-o-Bahar’s (Qissa Chaar Darvesh)translation into Urdu by Mir Amman at FortWilliam College stands out as a fine exampleof literary translation primarily because of the267-271http://xisdxjxsu.asia/

Journal of Xi’an Shiyou University, Natural Science Editioninstitutional patronage to the translation work.The same Persian story was earlier translatedinto Urdu by Ata Hussain Tehseen but it didnot find many readers among masses.It is clear that translation activity has beengoing on for over a century in Urdu. In thislong journey, many works of popular literaturehave been translated too. A majority of thesetranslated works of popular literature comeunder genres of detective, adventure, hunting,and children literature.about 136 English novels into Urdu. Due to hisfrequent translations, he is very importantamong the early translators. His translationKhooni Talwar (two volumes) and KhooniHeera (two volumes) are popular. Atrendsetter in the English detective fiction isSir Arthur Conan Doyle, who has writtenabout 80 novels. A majority of his novels havebeen translated into Urdu in Pakistan. Amongthe translators of his novels are Asar Nomani,F.M. Siddiqui and Tahir Rana.Children’s Literature in UrduDetective Fiction in UrduAccording Urdu critic and author MirzaHamid Baig, Zafar Umar introduced thedetective novel in the Urdu literature. Hetranslated the famous French detective novelMonsieur Lecoq into Urdu as Neeli Chatri.Later Mirza Mohammad Hadi Ruswa, TirathRam Firozpuri and others also translatedseveral detective novels into Urdu, leading tothe introduction of this genre into the Urduliterature. Mirza Hamid Baig also consideredIbn Safi to be the author with the firstcomplete detective novel in Urdu. Until thepublication of Ibn Safi’s novel Diler Mujrim in1952, the scope of detective fiction was largelylimited to translations. With his works, IbnSafi established himself as a famouscontemporary detective novelist. [BAIG, 310315]Mirza Mohammad Hadi Ruswa translatedMarie Corelli's detective novel Wormwood(1919) as Khooni Ishq and published in 1920.Later he published more detective novels, suchas Khooni Shehzada in 1921, Khooni Bhed in1924, Khooni Joru in 1928 and Bahram KiWapsi in 1928.Another important name in translation offiction is Tirath Ram Firozpuri. He translatedVOLUME 16 ISSUE 9ISSN : 1673-064XApart from detective fiction, translations ofpopular literature include the Urdu translationof Rudyard Kipling's famous work The JungleBook, which has been translated byMohammed Inayatullah Khan as Zulfi.Another person to translate The Jungle Bookwas Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. A Hollywoodfilm was made on this story in 1942 as TheJungle Book and a cartoon film was made in1967 by Walt Disney as well. Jonathan Swift’sGulliver's Travels has also been translated intoUrdu by more than one person. It was firsttranslated by Syed Fakhruddin under the titleBalishtiyon Ki Duniya and published in 1938from Calcutta. The same novel has beentranslated by Mohammad Nadeem also underthe title Lilliput Ka Safar, which waspublished by Taraqqi Urdu Bureau, NewDelhi.Stories of Hunting and Adventure inUrduAnother important genre of popularliterature is hunting and adventure. A numberof works of adventure and hunting have beentranslated into Urdu. The stories of famoushunters like Jim Corbett and Kenneth267-271http://xisdxjxsu.asia/