Translation and Reception of Russian Literature in Assamese, Bangla, and Malayalam

Concept Note:

The historical plurality of Indian literature is suggestive of the coexistence of multiple language-literary traditions that have developed through sustained ‘intersystemic’ and ‘intrasystemic’ contact. The twentieth century emerges as a significant moment in Indian literary history, marked by the intensified processes of translation, circulation, and reception of literature across Indian language literary systems from other Indian languages as well as languages that may be called ‘guest’ languages. In this session, we explore the translation and reception of Russian literature in Assamese, Bangla, and Malayalam to examine how literary ideas travel across languages and cultures. How does the literary contact between the Soviet Union and the many language- literary systems in India reframe questions and categories of ‘writing history’?

What methodological shifts are required to write a literary history of the Cold War as a multilingual, multi-systemic phenomenon? Through this session, we propose to initiate an inquiry into…