SINHALA LITERATURE IN TAMIL TRANSLATION

Introduction

Tamil and Sinhala have been co-existing and interacting in different social situations and contexts in Sri Lanka for many centuries. Sinhala scholars like Peter Silva (1961) and D.E. Hettiarachchi (1969) recognized the influence of Tamil on the structure and lexicon of Sinhala from the historical periods. Sugathapala de Silva (1969) and C.E. Godakumbura (1950) admit that Sidat Saitgarawa, the earliest grammar of the Sinhala language written in the 13th century A.D., is influenced by the Tamil grammar Vi:raco:liyam. Sinhala, in turn, influenced Sri Lanka Tamil to a certain extent, mainly in the area of its lexicon.

In spite of the present political conflict between the Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, both the languages are mutually used by these communities for their day-to-day communication, at least in certain bilingual areas in this country.

Although Sinhala and Tamil have a long literary history of their own, Tamil literature has greatly influenced Sinhala literature during the middle ages. Peter Silva (1963), Charles de Silva (1964), Hissalle Dhammaratana Thera (1963) and recently Sunil Ariyaratna (1995) have pointed out the impact of Tamil on Sinhala literature. Tamil literature, however, did not in return get anything from Sinhala literature until very recently, maybe because of the political and literary dominance of the Tamil language in the region during the ancient and medieval periods.

The situation changed during the post-Independence period in Sri Lanka. Despite the ethnic tension and violence which occurred from time to time in the recent past, the Tamil-speaking communities in Sri Lanka have shown their interest in learning Sinhala, in reading Sinhala literature, and also in translating the same into Tamil. They learned Sinhala mainly because it was made the (only) official language in the late 19505 and had become socially dominant, so that they were compelled to learn it for their official existence. Whatever their reasons for learning Sinhala, this opened the windows to the culture of the majority community.

Tamil and Muslim writers who learned Sinhala have translated a number of contemporary Sinhala creative pieces into Tamil.' Most of these translations were undertaken with a purpose; that i.s, to promote an inter-communal dialogue through literature in order to create an understanding between communities, and to create communal harmony in this country. It was a one-way effort until very recently,

Some of the translators of creative writings from Sinhala into Tamil are AJAzoomath, S.M.J. Faisdeen, Junaida Shariff, T. Kanakaratnarn, M. Kanagarajah, Madulugiriye Wijeratna, Neelkarai Nambi, Nilarrn Casim, M.A. Nuhman, A. Piyadasa, Raja Srikandan, P. Ratnasabapathy Iyar, Sarojinidevi Arunasalam, M.H.M. Shams, Sinnaiya Kanagamoorthy ,Sinnaia Sivanesan, SivaSubramaniyarn, Sundaram Saumiyan, Tambyaya Davadas and M.M. Uwais.

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however, because only a few contemporary Tamil pieces had been translated into Sinhala till the late 1970s.2 This means that, unlike in the medieval period. Tamil bad lost its social and political importance in tills country. However, from the late 19708, because of the intensification of the ethnic conflict after the 1983 communal riot, the emergence of Tamil militancy, and the escalation of the civil war some progressive Sinhala writers, journalists, and intellectuals took positive steps to have a dialogue with the minority communities through literature and started to translate contemporary Tamil writings, mainly Sri Lankan Tamil poetry, into Sinhala. Some Muslim and Tamil writers willingly collaborated with them in their meaningful efforts. Some of tbe progressive Sinhala tabloids like Mawatha, Viwara~a, Ravaya, and Yukthiya made conscious efforts to promote the translation of Tamil literature into Sinhala during the last decade!

This paper surveys the Sinhala literary works translated into Tamil during the post-Independent period, assesses the quality of the translations, and highlights some of the problems of translating Sinhala creative writing into Tamil.

Some Tamil classics have been translated into Sinhala between the years 1950 and 1970. Sri Charles de Silva (1964) and Misiharni Gorakagoda (l961a, 1961b) have translated Tirukkura] of Thiruvalluvar. Misihami Gorakagoda (1968) has also translated Na.latya:r an anthology of didactic poems ill Tamil. Cilappatika.ram, the first Tamil epic, has been translated by Amarakoon Dassanayake (1956) and Rev. Hissalle Dhammaratana (1959). Rev. Hissalle Dhammaratana (1950)has also translated the classical Tamil Buddhist epic Manimekalai, I could gather information of only one modern Tamil creative work that has been translated into Sinhala during this period. It is Narisura.va, (Kallo: Ka:viyamo:), a novel by M. Varatharajan (1966) translated by M.C.M. Sayir and P.D. Wijedasa.

I gathered information about the following five Tamil short story collections published since 1970 in Sinhala translation which include 64 Tamil short stories.

(1) Kulahi.nayo 17 short stories by C. Rajagopalachari (1973). Translated by D.D. Nanayakkara.

(2) Alut Satanpa.tha 12 short stories by S. Kaneshalingam. Translated by Ranjith Perera.

(3) Demala Ketikata 12 short stories of different authors. Translated by T. Kanakaratnam 1979).

(4) Kalimuttuge: puravasi Bha:vaya 11 'short stories of different authors. Translated by Ibnu Azoomat and Pushpa Rarnlane Ratnayake (1991).

(5) Demalaketikata 12 short stories by S. Thillai Nadaraja (!994). The translator's name is not given.

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Translation of Sinhala Short Stories

Nearly a hundred Sinhala short stories have been translated into Tamil during this period. Three Sinhala short story collections have been published. Ce.tu Pantanam, translated by Kanakaratnam (1979), consists of twelve short stories of different authors. Cinkalac Cuukataikai, published in India in 1982, includes ten short stories of different authors. These translations were done by eight different persons, and they had already been published in Mallikai, a Tamil literary monthly. Valai, translated by Madulugiriya Wijerathne (1994), consists of five short stories of different authors including one of his O\\-TI. The other stories have been published invarious magazines and newspapers during the past thirty years.