Kavya and Anuvad in the Age of Bhasha: Reading History of Bangla Literature

Abstract

This essay discusses translation as the primary factor in the creation of Indian literature in general and Bangla literature in the medieval period. The term "translation" that was used to describe the accommodation of numerous literatures after reception, adaption, influence, and translation in mediaeval Bangla was liberal. We discover several facets and definitions of translation while reading mediaeval Bangla literature, despite the word translation not being used. However, identical actions took place while disguising them as resistance and social welfare. This study does not investigate the original mediaeval texts; instead, it surveys Bangla-language literary histories of Bangla literature and traces how the literary historian(s) viewed the process of mediaeval translation. In order to support the idea of the Indian school of translation, this study incorporated diverse objectives, strategies, and conceptions of the poets involved in translating a book from Sanskrit, Persian, or any other language into Bangla. The focus of this essay is on issues like the origin of language, linguistic and cultural identity, resistance, and the function of translation in relation to all these elements. It also reads mediaeval translation as a component of a larger literary, political, and cultural system.