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| Wednesday, 26 May 2004 |
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Focus on books Understanding Spanish poems through Sinhala by Prof. Sunanda Mahendra
My friend disagrees. He insists that translation should come from the original especially not from any other like English, as they are normally done. Most of the French and Russian works we used to read at the early stages, were also translated from English. But as time passed by, we found several translators of the calibre of Padma Harsha Kuranage and Dedigama Rodrigu, who for the most of their time devoted on translations from Russian to Sinhala. These two translators for the most part eliminated some of the erroneous concepts, terms and usages that came via English translations holding once again the theory of first hand knowledge is preferred over and above a second hand knowledge. Prof. Ariya Rajakaruna (about whose translations I would deal later) commenced a dedicated task by which he translated Haiku poems Noah and Kabuki plays screen plays from the original Japanese to Sinhala. I intend to have all these background details in order to introduce to the best of my ability a translator who devotes her time to Spanish literature. She is Ms Indrani Ratnasekara, who by profession is a ground hostess and a tour guide who works at home and abroad. Her main skill in translation is poetry, and to her credit brought out several works of Antonio Machado and Garcia Lorca, together with several others. In her collection of poems translated from Spanish to Sinhala she retains (according to her, to her best ability) the flavour of the original Spanish creation together with notes and cross references, enabling the local reader to investigate more into the hidden realms of creativity. Her work in Sinhala, a collection of poetry of Machado, could be read as a creative narrative, as she was interspersed the trials and tribulations plus the creative processes. This I felt is a unique technique in the introduction of a poet of the calibre of Machado, about whom only a flimsy volume of poems had appeared a translation of poems in the eighties by the late English lecturer, my friend Ranjit Gunawardena. Bilingual Indrani Ratnasekara, who had studied Spanish, and Japanese languages is keen on introducing the hitherto unknown works from the originals. Her maiden effort is a book titled Spanish in Sinhalese, a bilingual reader for those interested in learning Spanish through Sinhala. On the other hand she has also produced a book titled Sinhala for Travellers, introducing some useful Sinhala terms in English, for travellers in Sri Lanka. One can perhaps prove how the power of the genetic plan lies, considering what Indrani says. According to information supplied by her, her father had been a scholar in several languages such as Tamil, Pali, Sanskrit and Malayalam. This traditional inheritance of linguistic skills is a remarkable factor. Indrani, who has travelled widely claims to be a specialist in such vocational areas like tourism and allied units like guide service to various places of interest, airport service, life passenger handling, ticketing, passenger and tourist welfare measures etc. She has been awarded several certificates for outstanding contribution to the above mentioned areas and workshop participation of the same. Wherever she goes, she tries her best to find time to collect notes on her experiences. These ultimately are sent to local newspapers and magazines. Several leading women's journals have carried feature articles about her experiences. 'I have just started doing my literary activities and I have a long way to go.' Indrani says in a relaxed mood. Once we invited her to render some poems of Machado in Spanish. Difficult She turned the pages of a collection of Spanish poems and went on rendering them in a sing song manner before an audience. 'Introducing the poems of Machado is just an experiment,' She says. 'For there are quite a number of other poets as well.' She also believes that translating poetry is a difficult task, but someone will have to commence from some possible moment. That historical moment I presume, Indrani has understood. As publishers point out quite an ongoing interest is seen on the sales of translated works above those original works. The new generation of book reader wants to quench the thirst on reading and knowing experiences and interactions of other lands. This is nothing but a basic facet in the cross cultural studies. Good translations are wanted in order to nurture a better national book culture. Unparalleled scholarly publication Electoral Politics in Sri Lanka : A study of the Parliamentary General Election of December 2001. Author: Prof. W. A. Wiswa Warnapala Publishers: Godage International Publishers (Pvt) Ltd., Wellampitiya, Sri Lanka. P.P. - 1 - 239 Price: Rs. 750
Prof. Wiswa Warnapala, former Professor of Political Science, University of Peradeniya and Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education who served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament as well as Chairman of the Employees Trust Fund Board has already published ten books on various aspects of Sri Lankan politics. Among them Recent Politics in Sri Lanka (With Dias Hewagama 1984) and Provincial Politics in Sri Lanka (1990) Presidential Elections of 1982 and the Provincial Councils elections of 1992 and Local Politics in Sri Lanka (1990) deal with both the Presidential Elections as well as Provincial and Local Government Elections in Sri Lanka. Following the footsteps of both I. D. S. Weerawardene and A. J. Wilson, Wiswa Warnapla has brought out a new and refreshing study on psephological studies on Sri Lanka taking into account the instability created by the introduction of proportional representation under the 1978 2nd Republican Constitution. The study of the electoral system in Sri Lanka could be categorized into two periods, namely the pre-1977 and post 1977 periods. The electoral framework that prevailed in Sri Lanka from 1947 to 1977 was based on "first past the post system" or simple majority system. The Second Republican Constitution introduced by the United National Party (UNP) Government in 1978 made significant changes in the system of representation. It introduced a system of proportional representation. According to this system, the Members of Parliament would be elected under a district-based list system and the total number of representatives to parliament was fixed at 196/36 were allocated to provinces at four each per province. Amendments However the 14th amendment to the constitution and amendments to the Parliamentary Election Act presented in Parliament made certain changes in the above arrangements. Accordingly, 225 members are elected to the Parliament of whom 29 are to be elected according to the proportion to the votes received by the parties at national level. Although the system of proportional representation (PR) was introduced by the UNP government to overcome the weaknesses of the simple majority system prevailed in Sri Lanka from 1947 to 1977 the PR has created problems in the electoral system of Sri Lanka: For example since the introduction of the PR in 1978 in Sri Lanka no major party could obtain a majority in Parliament. The only exception was that the United National Party managed to obtain 125 seats in the 1989 general election. In the 1994 general election the People's Alliance (PA) obtained 105 seats and formed a government with the support of the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress which gained 7 seats while the UNP got 94 seats. Similarly in the 2000 general elections the PA obtained 107 and the UNP 89. In the 2000 election the PA formed a government with the support of small parties. However, in the 2001 general election the UNP gained 96 seats and formed a government. Thus, the PR system has produced unstable governments in Sri Lanka. In addition, the preferential vote system under the PR has created several problems particularly election related violence. This book on Electoral Politics in Sri Lanka by Prof. Wiswa Warnapala contains eight chapters, appendices and 21 tables. In Chapter I (prelude) the author has analyzed the events and developments that led to the dissolution of Parliament in October 2001 focusing on the disturbances at Mawanella. According to the author, the downfall of the PA government started with the Mawanella disturbances. What is important to note is that the author has analysed these development without bias. Chapter II is about the National Electorate. This chapter is an invaluable contribution to students, leaders, researchers and ordinary citizens, because it contains statistics on a national electorate profile on the allocation of territorial membership in the 22 districts, existing electoral structure, the number of members that the districts entitled, and the increase in the number of registered voters. Nominations Chapter III is on Nominations, Candidates and Parties. Making use of quantitative analysis the author has done an excellent analysis of the 1994 general election of 2001 giving a breakdown of the number of candidates, the number of Political Parties and the Number of Independent Groups. In addition the author has presented the number of political parties that participated in elections from 1947 to 2001. Also a list of political parties and candidates and members of parliament by sex from 1960 to 1977 has been presented. Chapter IV is on the manifestos of political parties. In this chapter the author maintains that "the manifestos of political parties need to be analysed to examine the extent to which they influence the mood of the electorate "and continues to assess political parties. Chapter V is a detailed analysis of campaigns and issues. In this section too the author presents a list of places where main meetings were held by the PA and newspapers in circulation. Chapter VI deals with the conduct of the poll. In this section too the author has presented number of rejected votes and comes to conclusion that "all arrangements were made for the rules and regulations laid down in the elections laws of the country." Next is a very important section namely Election Violence and the Electoral System. Even though election related violence has been increasing in all South Asian States in general and particularly in Sri Lanka so far nor systematic study on this subject have been undertaken. In this study Prof. Wiswa Warnapala's chapter is a most welcome attempt to fill the gap. Endemic The author points out that "Both political participation and party competition suffered as a result of the growth of electoral violence which has now become endemic in the Sri Lankan Political System and argues that since it has become a common phenomenon, it needs to be investigated to establish a co-relation between electoral violence and the PR. In fact the author has succeeded in establishing the relationship between the electoral system and the violence in Sri Lanka in this section. After a thorough examination of the proportional system of representatives in Italy, Austria and Belgium, the author maintains that (i) This system of representation would break the link between the MP and his constituents. (ii) As far as preferential votes are concerned the candidates/organizers treats their divisions as sole domains and attempt to prevent other candidates from eating in to their own resources which would evidently create animosities, resulting in violence. "After examining many examples of violence in Sri Lanka the author comes to the conclusion that the General Election of December, 2001 can be recognized as the election where both pre-poll and post-election violence reached a level unparalleled in the history of elections in this country." The last chapter of this book is the analysis of the result. Making use of statistical analysis the author has analysed the result of the 2001 general election in a systematic way. In addition, he has used quantitative analysis too and warns all concerned people that the "failure to work on the basis of the principle of co-habitation ... will make governance much more difficult, resulting in the further decline of parliamentary politics in Sri Lanka." In short, Prof. Wiswa Warnapala has brought out a new scholarly publication which is very useful to undergraduates, and post graduate students, and researchers as well as interested citizens of this country. Certainly this book will be an valuable addition to students of politics and the libraries of our country. - Prof. A. Sivarajah, Department of Political Science, University of Peradeniya **** Back **** |
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Once a Bengali literary scholar told me that if
the works of the poet Tagore is to be understood and appreciated, they should be read in the
original language and not as translated into English. But surely the
translator is well versed in Bengali as such there need not be a question
of an appreciation barrier.
Although elections were held in Sri Lanka for the first time in 1931
and in 1936, the systematic analysis of the general elections was
attempted only in December 1959 by Dr. I. D. S. Weerawardana after the
1956 general elections, followed by A. J. Wilson's study on Electoral
Politics in an Emergent State The Ceylon General Election in May 1970.
