Rasa theory and its application in translation - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Rasa theory and its application in translation

With reference to the drama “

Shakuntala

”

Original Writer:

Kalidas

Presentation by Ravi Kumar

University of Ottawa

Slide2

Context of rasa theory

Structure of rasa theory

Rasa theory in Action “Shakuntala”: Translation and Story Presentation” Discussion & ConclusionAudio –medial Clip

Structure of Presentation

Slide3

R

asa theory finds its root in late

vedic period in Atharvaveda ( 200 BC-100 BC)Bharatmuni (First century AD approx.) gave major statement in his Book Natyashastra

Natyashatra

is Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music

Context of rasa theory

Slide4

Bharatmuni

says

“rasa is realization of one’s own consciousness as colored by emotions”“rasa and emotions cannot be expressed directly through words, their essence being immediate experience; so they can be only suggested by words”

Context of rasa theory

Slide5

Philosophical side of rasa theory

“rasa school emphasizes on experiential aspect of literature, the qualitatively new product that must be directly experienced in order not to confuse with an aggregate of its natural constituents. It is unworldly pleasure which accompanies it as transcendental”

Context of rasa theory

Slide6

Analogy by

Bharatmuni

“The unique taste delicacy arises from coming together of many  ingredients each of which has its particular taste like conditioned response, but the taste of dish is different and of a higher order than that of each component”, the later one is unconditioned response or called cultivated response.

“Similarly cooking involves providing heat as well as expertise – thus it not only involves bhavas but poetic

inspiration and poetic

art as well”

   

Context of rasa theory

Slide7

New dimensions

A

ccepted as the core literary theory by all major dramatists as well as theoreticians including Abhinavgupta, Viswanatha, Pt. Jagananatha

and

Kapil Kapoor who have contributed towards a more subtle understanding of this theory.

Equated with words like – flavour, sentiment, passion, mood or no translation at all

Context of

rasa theory

Slide8

The Rasa theory is built around the concept of bhava

which is subdivided into

vibhava (विभव), sthayibhava (स्थायी भाव), sancaribhava ( संकरी भाव), anubhava (अनुभव) and sattvikabhava

(सात्विक भाव)

.  Bharata enumerates forty-nine bhavas  - it is a claim about the range of human experience. 

Structure of rasa theory

Slide9

RASA

BHAVA

MEANING

COLOUR

Shringar

(love)

Rati

Love/delight

Pale Light Green

Hasya

(humorous)

Hasa

Laughter

White

Karuna (Pathetic/kindly)ShokaSorrowGreyRaudra (furious)KrodhAngerRedVeera (heroic)UtsahaHeroismPaleOrangeBhayanaka (Fearful)BhayaFearBlackBibhatsa (Odious)JugupsaHate/disgustBlueAdbhuta (Wonderful)VismayaWonderYellowShanta (Peaceful)Shanta PeaceWhite

Structure of rasa theory

Rasa is an emotion experienced by the audience created by the facial expression or the

Bhava

of the

actor. Our discussion will focus only on following

sthayibhavas

(स्थायी भाव

)

.

Slide10

Structure of rasa theory

Slide11

Rasa can be experienced individually or collectively

Whereas feelings and emotions when aroused by linguistic means are conditioned responses, moods are not, and this is also a fundamental aspect of rasa; rasa is based on conditioned responses, but in itself is something higher: we may call it unconditional or cultivated response.

Rasa theory: the experience of rasa

Slide12

Level of response depends on aesthetics sense of an individual/a group determined by their world view of the people. (

Kapil

Kapoor links it to

Sanskar

and explains cab drives story in Chekov’s writings)

Rasa theory and the audience

Slide13

Rasa theory in action

Rasa is realized when self looses its egoistic, pragmatic aspect and assumes an impersonal contemplative attitude – highest modes of being – free from all carving, striving and external necessity – it is blissful.

Cosmic balance

Cosmic balance

text /actors

readers/ audience

Slide14

Shakuntala

by

Kalidas (370-450 AD)

Kalidasa

(Devanāgarī: कालिदास "servant of Kali") was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language.

His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu

Puranas

and philosophy

.

The text of

Abhijñānaśākuntalam

itself is adapted version, “re-telling of story from the epic Mahabharata. A radical departure from the basic text. Focus: Political

Books:

Abhijñānaśākuntalam

,

Raghuvaṃśa, Meghadūta, Vikramōrvaśīyam,Kumārasambhava

Slide15

As per the available records, the

play was the first Indian drama to be translated into a Western language, by Sir William Jones in 1789.

( Pre-colonial India) Monier – Williams in 1855 ( colonial India) Kale in 1898 – Colonial IndiaChandra Rajan – Post –colonial India Currently there will be more 200 popular versions of translation available in different languages.

Shakuntala

and its translation – the continued life

Slide16

Sir William Jones (Orientalist from England)

“

Great praise for Indian civilization. Equated Kalidas with Shakespeare”.Domesticated Shakuntala

to suit the sense of morality of his target readership

”. Example: Heavy hips of

shakuntala

toned down to elegant limbs.

Passages explaining love between

shakuntala

and

Dushyant

appeared too erotic for his European readers.

The translation sanitized and made appropriate for the receptor.

Presented

his opinion and felt apologetic about explicitness of the text

Shakuntala and its translation

Slide17

Sir

Monier

Williams – Sanskrit Professor at OxfordAdministrative control from East India company transferred to crown of England. Inspite of great praise for India, Sir Monier Williams shifted focus towards prevailing attitude of crown towards India

The subtle romance and elegance of

shakuntla is depicted as rustic shakuntala

She is seen as representative of

hindu

way of life

Depicts

victorian

disapproval of sexuality hence expression of art is manipulated

Shakuntala

and its translation

Slide18

M.R. Kale – Sanskrit Scholar and Grammar expert from India

Appreciates the work of

Monier Williams but develops totally a different attitude towards his version of translation Applies literal (word–to–word) that makes it very difficult for the English reader to understand the text as well as the context

He gives detailed analysis of the play in terms of background, life of

kalidas, plots, character and structure but he does not discuss translation strategy

Sanskrit text and its corresponding translation go in parallel

Intended for Indian reader who is familiar with Sanskrit and the culture, appears to be purely scholarly piece

Text was translated during colonial period and Kale is not aware of post colonial theories

Shakuntala

and its translation

Slide19

Chandra

Rajan

- Translator and English expert with connections in India and CanadaTakes feedback from Indian as well as foreign readers before publishing Target readers are from India as well as outside IndiaGives lengthy introduction introducing Sanskrit, drama and Indian traditions

Follows sense for sense – meant for reader not familiar with Sanskrit tradition

Scholarly too but streamlined to meet the demands of a receptor culture

Shakuntala

and its translation

Slide20

Sir William

Jones

The damsel is fatigued, I imagine, by pouring so much water on the cherished plants.Her arms, graced with palms like fresh blossoms, hang carelessly down; her bosom heaves with strong breathing; and now her dishevelled locks, from which the string

has dropped

, are held by one of her lovely hands. Suffer me, therefore, thus to discharge the debt.

Sir

Monier

Monier

-Williams

Sir

Monier

Monier

-Williams

Spare her this trouble, gentle maiden. The exertion of watering the shrubs has already fatigued her.

The water-jar has overtasked the strengthOf her slim arms; her shoulders droop, her handsAre ruddy with the glow of quickened pulses;E'en now her agitated breath impartsUnwonted tremor to her heaving breast;The pearly drops that mar the recent bloomOf the [S']irísha pendent in her ear,Gather in clustering circles on her cheek;Loosed is the fillet of her hair; her handRestrains the locks that struggle to be free.Suffer me, then, thus to discharge the debt for you.Shakuntala and its translationFour line stanza in Sanskrit where Dushyant describes Shakuntla’act

Slide21

Kale

Gentle

maiden, I see that this lady is exhausted just by watering the trees. For her arms, on account oflifting up the jar, have their shoulders drooping, and their palms extremely reddened; her abnormal breathing, still causes her breasts to heave; on her face has gathered a mist of the drops of perspiration,obstructing (the play of) the

Sirisha

flower placed on her ear; and the knot of hair being loosened, hertresses, held (by her) with one hand, are disheveled. I will, therefore, discharge her (lit. make her free from

debt).

Chandra

Rajan

I

see that the lady is exhausted from watering the trees; as it is

,

Her

arms droop, languid, her palms glow

reddened lifting up the watering-jar;

her bosom still heaves as she draws deep breaths.

The

Sirisa blossom adorning her ear,caught in the sparkling web of beads of sweat,ceases its delicate play against her cheek.With one hand she restrains her hair, straying wild,unruly, released from its knot undone.Shakuntala and its translationFour line stanza in Sanskrit where Dushyant describes Shakuntla’ act

Slide22

Bhavas

and

Rasas at work In each successive acts and scenes, the characters play their roles through variety of bhavas, but the dominance of rati,

shoka

, utsaha and vismaya makes the play more receptive, hence at successive acts, well informed audience experiences heightened emotions and rasa that has combination of love and

karuna

. Simultaneously,

veera

and

adbhut

rasas

play their subservient role.

S

eparation of

Shakuntala

from his beloved creates imbalance in the environment influencing the emotional response of the audience. Her longing for her husband (shoka-bhava) moves the audience toward karuna rasa. Once she re-unites with the king Duhsyant, harmonay is restored, the audience gets heightened delight.Shakuntala and its translation

Slide23

Shakuntala

is the

daughter of sage Vishwamitra and the beautiful Apsara, Menaka who left her in an ashram of rishis.

This

tale revolves round the love of Shakuntala and the mighty king, Dushyanta.

Originally

mentioned in the Mahabharata, the story of

Shakuntala

has been immortalized by way of

the

Abhijyanashakuntalam

, written by the great

poet and dramatist

Kalidasa

.

Shakuntala

: Background

Slide24

Shakuntala's

childhood was spent happily roaming around in the greenery of the hills, along with her two closest friends, Anasuya and Priyamvada. So gentle and soft-spoken was she, that even the birds and animals residing in the forest were drawn to her.

She

grew up to be a strikingly beautiful young woman, who radiated youth and elegance, though simply clad in cotton garments and flowers for ornaments

.

Shakuntala

– Her life

Dominant

Bhava

:

rati

Dominant Rasa:

shringar

Slide25

While on hunt in

Jangales

, King Dushyanta the most powerful king of his time meet Shakuntala and instantly fell in love with her

.

When he expressed his love for her, he realized that Shakuntala too reciprocated his feelings

.

Dominant

Bhava

:

utsaha

,

rati

Dominant Rasa:

veera

,

shringar

Shakuntala – Falls in love

Slide26

Shakuntka

and

Dushyanta secretly got married as per Gandarv Vivah rules prevelent at that time. Dushyant spends overnight in the ashram and then left for his capital city, promising

Shakunatala

that he would return soon to take her back to his kingdom, as his lawfully wedded wife. Before leaving,

Dushyant

gave

his precious ring to

Shakuntala

, as a sign of his love for her. He also particularly asked her not to lose it under any

circumstance.

Dominant

Bhava

:

rati

Dominant Rasa:

shringar Shakuntala – gets married

Slide27

After

Dushyanta's

departure from the ashram, Shakuntala spent much time dreaming about him and was often in her own dream world, neither eating nor sleeping properly. One day, rishi Durvasa, who was infamous for his nasty temper, came to the ashram. Lost in her thoughts, Shakuntala failed to notice the sage and did not greet

him properly.

Enraged by this insult, Durvasa cursed Shakuntala, saying that the person of her dreams would forget about her altogether. As he was about to depart, one of

Shakuntala's

friends explained to him the real reason behind

Shakuntala's

distraction and that it was never her intention to insult the rishi.

Understanding

Shakuntala's

state and realizing that she was truly innocent;

Durvasa

modified his curse saying that the person who had forgotten

Shakuntala

would recall everything if she showed him a personal token of love that had been given to her.

Shakuntala – cursed by a rishi Dominant Bhava: krodh, shokaDominant Rasa: raudra, karuna

Slide28

Dressed

in beautiful silk attire,

Shakuntala left the ashram along with her foster father. On the way to the kingdom, the ring given to her by Dushyanta slipped off her finger into the river without her realizing it.

Meanwhile, a

fish swimming in the river swallowed the ring. When she reached Dushyanta's

court,

unfortunately

,

the king

Dushyant

a

had lost his memory, due to

Durvasa's

curse. He did not recall anything at all about

Shakuntala

and their wedding. Hence, he refused to accept Shakuntala as his wife. In a final bid, Shakuntala told him about the ring he had given her and raised her hand to show it to him. Only then did she realize that it had fallen off somewhere and that she had lost it forever. Dominant Bhava: rati, shoka Dominant Rasa: shringar, karunaShakuntala – King’s memory loss

Slide29

Utterly

humiliated and dejected,

Shakuntala returned to a remote part the forest, where she, in due course of time, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Bharata gradually grew older and turned out to be a strong, handsome youth.

He

used to ride the wild animals and often made a sport of opening the mouths of lions and tigers in order to count their teeth.Bharata, as she named him, was one day destined to become one of the most powerful icons of Indian history. 

Dominant

Bhava

:

shoka

,

utsaha

Dominant Rasa:

karuna

,

veera

Shakuntala – gives birth to a child

Slide30

In the meantime, a fisherman was utterly surprised to find a royal ring inside the belly of a fish he had caught.

Recognizing

the royal seal, he took the ring to Dushyanta. As he held the ring, Dushyanta immediately recalled his past - his love for

Shakuntala

, the wonderful time spent with her and the memories of his lovely bride.

Dominant

Bhava

:

vismaya

,

rati

Dominant

Rasa

:

adbhuta

, shringar Shakuntala – King recalls his past

Slide31

Wasting no more time,

Dushyanta

immediately sets out to find Shakuntala. As he did not find her at her father's ashram, he moves deeper into the forest to find her.

In the forest, he saw

a young lad playing with lion cubs.Utterly amazed, Dushyanta asked the boy his name.

The

boy

said that

he was

Bharata

, the son of King

Dushyanta

, the king gets a pleasant surprise.

Dominant

Bhava

:

utsaha, vismaya, Dominant Rasa: veera, adbhutaShakuntala - king meets his son

Slide32

Upon

Dushyanta’s

requests, the boy took him to Shakuntala. Dushyanta meets Shakuntala and narrates about his memory loss.

He

asked her to join him again and thus, the family gets reunited.

Dominant

Bhava

:

utsaha

,

vismaya

shoka

,

rati, shanta Dominant Rasa:veera, adbhuta, karuna, shringar, shanta Audience gets heightened delight – the mixture of many rasas Shakuntala, Bharat and Dushyant reunite – Harmony Restored

Slide33

Domestication by William Jones

Domestication by Sir

Monier WilliamsLiteral Word to word by KaleSense to Sense by Chandra RajanDiscussion and Conclusion

Slide34

RK

:

Story telling or adaptation with of support of images: Rewriting and trans-creationLittle closer to

Structuralists

: jackobson – Intersemiotic - written text translated into different mode Cinema / drama / music

Functionalists

: Katharina Reiss

–Communication approach - audio-medial.

Nida’s

dynamic

equivalance

: Meaning of ST with same impact of TL audience

Skopos

: Reiss and Vermeer: Based on scope / aim translator decides how to maintain functional adequacy in intercultural context

Even – Zohar’s

polysystem

at play but mix of innovatory and conservative is neededToury DTS (norms, rules and idiosyncrasies) idiosyncrasies related to behavior characteristics provide part support as does manipulation school Bassnett and Lefevere’s idea of cultural turn helps more as it deals with power, ideology, institution and manipulation. Refraction also fails as Kalidas is already classists, however, the idea of greater popularity in different culture remain within the context. So is the role of idea of after life or continued life by Walter Benjamin Discussion and Conclusion

Slide35

More closer

hermeneutics

of translation ( philosophical approach to translation) by George Steiner as philosophical as well as intellectual working of translator are at work : first Kalidas as rewriter or transcreator, later, the other translators from Sanskrit to English) . Thus his four motions: initiative trust, aggression, incorporation as well as compensation brings us closer to understand rasa

theory

. I remain critical to the concept of aggression though.

Where

“rasa

is based on conditioned responses, but in itself is something higher:

unconditional

or cultivated response.

However, all theories discussed before fail

to address

“Realization of Rasa when self

looses its egoistic, pragmatic aspect and assumes an impersonal contemplative attitude – highest modes of being – free from all carving, striving and external necessity – it is

blissful”.

This is one of the most

“Striking Difference between western thoughts and Indian traditions” Discussion and Conclusion

Slide36

The answer may be sought in Indian Drama and Indian Cinema where, a very careful approach is taken to arouse the feelings of the viewers and provide heightened experience through a story based on action, love,

romance, separation and reunion supported by songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBx0BH77L3EDiscussion and Conclusion