Parameswaran, Uma

English

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pieces have been translated by Professor  S. El-Gabalawy, and two by the author), and how they managed to retain the flavor  and nuances of  meaning in the original. Patrick Colm Hogan and Lalita Pandit, eds. Literary  India:  Comparative  Studies  in Aesthetics,  Colonialism  and Culture Albany: State University of  New York Press. 1995. Pp. 289. $19.95 Reviewed by Uma Parameswaran The current predilection among critics to make colonial oppression the axis around which all readings revolve has itself  become oppressive, so much so that a volume which deals with non-colonial issues important to non-Western literatures is a welcome change. The thirteen essays in this volume are categorized under six headings, and the objective is multicultural comparatism, or more precisely, "to consider a wider range of  similarities and differences,  interactions and reactions, in order to understand better both the artistic form  and the social import of  any literature" (xi). Patrick Colm Hogan addresses the biases that underlie the dichotomizing view of  East/West. He urges that it would be more productive to trace commonalities and to identify  and isolate the literary universals—the universal patterns of  grammar, for  instance. Hogan sets classical Sanskrit plays alongside classical Greek tragedies and the plays of  Shakespeare. He shows that, contrary to Western perceptions of  Indian literature, there has been as much transmutation of  sources by Kalidasa as by Shakespeare, that the stylized formula  of  Sangam poetry has room for  innovation, and that "deus ex machina" sequences in the classics of  both Indian and European drama are not randomly imposed but work from  within the structure through mimetic and symbolic unities. Hogan also lists various topics of  possible comparative studies between Indian and European literatures, such as the practice of  considering optimum length of  lines. Jeffrey  Ebbesen dispels the misconception that the "pride of  authorship exists only in the west" (48), and speaks of  the various kinds of  "signatures" used in Indian literature. V.K. Chari substantiates the perception that "literary criticism in Sanskrit is not predominantly a genre-oriented criticism" (63). W.P. Lehmann explicates the Hindu philosophy which sees an intimate connection between a word and its meaning, and the implications for  the understanding of Indian literature resulting from  the differences  between Hindu philosophy and Saussure's "arbitrariness" of  the sign (word). The Indian angle led to the sanctification  of  the sound, with society supporting the material needs of  a select group (Brahmins) which was entrusted with the responsibility of  transmitting all details of  word/sound to each successive generation. Book Reviews 97 The other four  parts of  the volume deal with specific  texts rather than with literary history and theory. Multicultural comparatism does not seem quite as interesting when applied to specifics.  To the reader familiar  with the texts, the interview with Anita Desai might seem bland. The interview with Homi Bhabha dwells on the colonial oppression/ marginalization of  minorities, paradigms that the editors sought to avoid. The analysis of  "imaginary infidelity"  (103-33) in Bhavabhuti's Uttararamacarita  and Shakespeare's The  Winter's  Tale  is located in contemporary feminist  discourse, with the usual surfeit  of  terms such as "reification"  and "reduction" and a reliance on Wendy O'Flaherty's Eurocentric interpretation of  the Siva-Shakti relationship. Norman Holland gives an equally subjective appraisal of  Satyajit Ray's Devi as "a film  about belief  and the way belief,  trust, or faith  itself  can become a creator and destroyer like Kali, because faith  itself  creates one reality and destroys another" (140). This is consonant with Holland's view that truth and reality are binary opposites of  "magic and the hysteria of  belief"  (140). The uses of  the word "hysteria" is a flag  that should not be missed. But many readers might do just that, and those unfamiliar  with the film  might especially assume objective criticism where none is claimed. Yet another example of  subjective reading is the interpretation of  the poem that P.K. Saha uses at the end of  a very articulate discussion of  the potentials and pitfalls  one encounters when translating across cultures. Advocating that translators should provide a literal translation in addition to any transcreation, Saha provides us with both the literal and transcreated versions of  a poem by Tagore. He, however, claims that the free  translation or "transcreation" is superior, "more in keeping with the natural rhythms of  English," arguing that those who know the original language (Bengali) would find  the rhythm in his free  translation "closer to the spirit of  the original" (186). I respond more favourably  to the literal translation as the transcreated version conjures Eurocentric allusions to putting "dust" in place of  "clay," "the ages" in place of "age after  age." Such words remove the action from  the cosmic level of  Earth (mixing, journeying, endlessly traversing) and the cycles of  Time (yuga) in the Hindu context to the human subject and, thus, a more limited "self-centred orbit, thereby replacing the Hindu context with Western ideology. But to each h is /her own preference,  as long as both reader and critic are clear on the limitations of  what is claimed. In sum, this volume makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of multicultural comparatism as a critical approach, and adds new dimensions to the interpretation of  Indian literature. 98 The  International  Fiction  Review 23 (1996) 

Patrick Colm Hogan and Lalita Pandit, eds. Literary India: Comparative Studies in Aesthetics, Colonialism and Culture

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Patrick Colm Hogan and Lalita Pandit, eds. Literary India: Comparative Studies in Aesthetics, Colonialism and Culture

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University of New Brunswick: Centre for Digital Scholarship Journals