Beyond the author's shadow: Daisy Rockwell unravels a translator's identity

Jaipur Literature Festival 2024: Daisy Rockwell tells Business Standard her philosophy and about growing interest in translations

In an interview with Business Standard, Daisy Rockwell delves into her translation philosophy and speaks about her forthcoming project, a translation of another work by Geetanjali Shree

Ret Samadhi is a complex book. It uses language, examples and idiosyncrasies that are very Indian. How did you get into the mind of Geetanjali Shree?

Most translators are very intuitive and empathetic. So, if you read a book and you can imagine recreating it in another language, you are a translator.

I am sent books for translation, and often I read just the first page. You can already tell at that point if it is the right book. I read the first few pages and say that “no, I can't be these people, I can't be these characters. I don't feel an emotional and intellectual connection”.

In many cases, you read a book and you already start working on it in your mind. Like your mind goes into that place. I felt that way with Ret Samadhi.

Even if it was a tricky book to translate, I felt a connection to it immediately. There's something about Geetanjali's voice and sense of humour because of which we are really in sync. So, even though we are very different people, I was able to see her perspective and imagine how that could be brought up in the English language.

And you are also translating one more book by Geetanjali Shree?

Yes, that's Hamara Shahar Us Baras, which I am translating into Our City That Year, and I am just about to finish it. I usually do about 10 drafts of a book and for this, I have completed about 9.5 drafts of this one.

It is not stylistically as complex but is much more openly political. So, one of the challenges has been that there are certain ways these issues are discussed in Hindi and some ways these are discussed in English, and you don't necessarily get from A to B using a dictionary. So, we have to make sure the language is proper for English readers. That's been challenging but exciting.

Do you think translations get as much attention from publishers as other books do?

No, but I think things are changing rapidly. I first started reading Indian language literature and translations in the 1990s. That was when a lot of stuff was being brought out by publishers like Penguin. I found it really exciting. It was like various worlds opening up from different languages.

But the publishers did not put a lot of energy into marketing. Now that is changing – more so in India than in other parts of the world.

Now, there is a lot more respect for translators and excitement about translations. We are seeing it after “Tomb of Sand”, but I think it started happening before that.

How important do you think winning awards are for authors, translators and genres?

It certainly changed things for me. Winning awards helps, but the publishers say that it may not necessarily lead to higher sales. It certainly leads to more attention.

I noticed everywhere, at festivals and around the country, there's so much excitement about translations. Many smart and capable young people want to get into it, and that's really exciting. So, we can expect some really good stuff coming into the pipeline.

How do you see the future of fiction?

I love literary fiction. I don't think it is going to go away. It has its ebbs and flows, but I don't think it will ever drop out. People always want to tell stories.

In books, a writer's name is always written above the translator's. Do you find it difficult to establish an identity of your own?

We [Translators] always feel sort of tethered. I know there were Philip Pullman books where your soul is sort of tethered in this animal. You are not physically connected but you can feel the pain of the animal.

Like that, we are never fully separated. We are like soul and body or like a pair of twins or something.

Of course, the author does have a separate identity in their language and they have a freedom that we don't have. I think that's why a lot of us occasionally decide to write on our own to kind of clear that air and feel like we are separate human beings.

What tips would you give to someone who is trying to become a translator today?

Good writing and good translation come from daily practice. Those big fancy things come because you are sitting there writing.

As far as translation is concerned, I always say, and other translators make fun of me, that it is like a slow-cooking movement where you break down everything to the most basic, natural element.

So, I actually translate slower and slower. I always do ten drafts and write my first draft by hand. And I always tell young translators "Ten drafts" because it is a very long journey from language A to B, and if you rush to language B, you may not have fully created a new work.