Dante in Malayalam
G. JAYAKUMAR
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Kilimanoor Remakanthan will read from his translation of Dante's `Divine Comedy' at the annual Dante Festival in Ravenna, Italy.
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Photo: S. Gopakumar
LITERARY JOURNEY: Kilimanoor Remakanthan reads his translation of Dante's `Divine Comedy.' Behind him is the invitation to the Dante Festival at Ravenna.
In 2005, poet Kilimanoor Remakanthan's translation of Dante's `Divine Comedy' won him the Sahitya Akademi award for the best translation. And now honour has come for his work from Dante's birthplace - Italy. His work has been recognised as the first translation of `Divine Comedy' in an Indian language. The Italian Centre for Cultural Relations has invited him to read from his translated work at the Dante Festival held every year at Ravenna, Italy, where Dante's tomb is situated. The reading will be on September 15.
Remakanthan began translating Dante's epic poem `Divine Comedy' into Malayalam in the early Seventies. His job as a college teacher and his poetry took away much of his time and so progress was slow. But as he says, the fascination for Dante's work kept him going on for 30 years until the translation was complete. His work was published by Kendra Sahitya Akademi in 2000.
A milestone
It was another milestone in his journey through prose and poetry; a journey that began at the age of 13. Man and nature are his favourite themes. The author of around 20 books, most of them collections of his poems, is also a lyricist. `Anpathu Prema Ganagal,' `Haritabhoomi,' `Illa,' `Manushyamarangal,' `Kalpaantham,' `Gopalakrishnante Kannukal,' `Thachente Makante Makan' and `Gurupadham' are some of his works.
After a career spanning over three decades as a teacher at Sree Narayana College, Kollam, plus a short stint in the Lexicon Department of the University of Kerala, and as sub-editor in a Malayalam daily, he now devotes his time to reading and writing.
Kilimanoor Remakanthan talks about Dante, `Divine Comedy' and his translation.
What prompted you to translate Divine Comedy?
For an answer, I have to go back to when I was 15. Nalaankal Krishna Pillai was my history teacher at Intermediate College. He introduced me to the world of Roman and Greek literature. I read Sophocles, Euripedes, Aristophanes, Seneca's tragedies, popularly known as the tragedies of blood and terror, and Ovid's `Metamorphosis.'
Fascinated by these works, I began to write poems and plays. At college, I wrote a play `Nero' and staged it. My translation of Aristophanes was serialised in a Malayalam daily. I also wrote an abridged version of Virgil's `Aeneid.' That interest led me to Dante.
The first book that I read on Dante was by Prof. T.G. Purushotaman Pillai of Kerala Varma College, titled `Mahakavi Dante.' Years later at S.N. College, it was a textbook I had to teach. My interest in Dante grew. I got an English translation of Dante's `La vita nova' (New Life) from O.N.V. sir [O.N.V. Kurup]. I began to look for his other works. Then I read an English translation of `Divine Comedy' by Huse. It attracted me so much that I decided to translate his work.
Were there any difficulties? It was difficult to find publishers. Sahitya Akademi published the first part in 1979. The second part came out in 1990. In 2000, when Sachidanandan was secretary of Kendra Sahitya Akademi, he took the initiative to get the whole work published. The Akademi gave me a grant of Rs. 45,000.
Tell us about the work and how you were influenced by it?
`Divine Comedy' has three canticles (parts). Each canticle is divided into cantos. The three canticles are Hell (Inferno), Purgatory and Paradise. The Inferno has 34 cantos, and the other two, 33 each. Dante's theme is that after death, man has to go through inferno and purgatory to reach the final goal of paradise.
The purpose, as explained by Dante himself, is to rescue those living in this life from a state of misery and to lead them to a state of blessedness. Dante is highly poetic. `Divine Comedy' is conceived in the form of circles of hell leading to purgatory where man's spirit is cleansed of all sins, foremost of which is conceit, followed by jealousy, lust, laziness and greed. Only after purging all this will the journey to paradise be possible.
This is akin to Indian philosophy, which says `Asathoma sathgamaya,' (lead me from untruth to truth). One line, I translated goes like this `Thinmathan uravidum yeppozhum bhaya sthanam,' which means: the source of evil is the place of fear. In the purgatory, we have to discard conceit.
Again, the similarity to Indian philosophy. Ezhuthachan has said that `njan enna bhavam paadilla.'
Major influences on your writing.
I have been influenced by the teachings of Sri Narayana Guru, Kumaran Asan too. Our mental strength increases once we are able to control our weaknesses, that was what Asan said.
What part of your work will you be reading in Italy?
I will be reading an introductory part in Malayalam from `Divine Comedy' where Virgil's soul leads Dante through Hell. And Prof. Sachidanandan will present a paper on `Dante in India.'
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