ACHIEVING SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INTEGRITY THROUGH TRANSLATING LITERARY TEXTS FROM TAMIL TO ENGLISH – A STUDY BASED ON THE SHORT STORY COLLECTION “SUBAVAM”

Abstract

This research was undertaken to build social and cultural integrity among people by translating literary texts through the pragmatic method. It also aims to provide suggestions for an effective translation of literary pieces from Tamil to English. As this research employs the empirical method, qualitative methodology is adopted. Under the qualitative methodology, the study is carried out according to two types of methods: comparative and descriptive. The comparative method is applied to compare the perceptive source text, three main short stories from the book “SUBAVAM” with the target text which was translated into English. The descriptive method is applied to carry out the research by describing Jaffna Tamil culture's specific linguistic norms and cultural aspects. Since the sourcebook is written in the Jaffna vernacular, there are numerous dialects, slang, cultural terms, and religious terms. Therefore, the researcher analyzed social, cultural, and religious aspects of literary translation in terms of inducing integrity and harmony by disclosing the target language’s real sense, which evokes the readers to feel the originality of the source text. This study also explores some problems identified during the process of literary translation in terms of exposing the originality of the texts. To make literary translation effective, the researcher provides some suggestions and techniques and emphasizes that translators should have high proficiency in both languages as well as both cultures. Through this practice, social and cultural integrity can be attained beyond the language barrier. By undertaking this research in a well-guided method, the researcher has achieved the hypothesis and dispelled the misconception, literary texts are technically untranslatable and through literary translation, it is possible to create integrity and harmony among the multi-ethnic people in Sri Lanka.