TARZAN IN GUJARATI: APPROPRIATION OF THE ADVENTURE GENRE IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Abstract

Tarzan of the Apes (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs is one of the popular novels of the twentieth century. The character of Tarzan has become one of the most recognized characters in popular fiction through a series initiated by novels and its adaptation in other media. Gujarati translation of this novel is simply titled Tarzan (1990) by Ramanlal Soni, which is presented as children’s fiction. This paper aims to analyze this text from the perspective of polysystem studies. It will also attempt to understand Gujarati literature as a polysystem. Polysystem theory by Itamar Even-Zohar describes a literature as polysystem. It theorizes how literary activities can be seen in relation to each other, as in a binding network from which one particular activity from those can be understood. This theory hypothesizes relations between such activities and aims to observe them from the perspective of that network. This model of looking at particular literature is beneficial for understanding how a literature works. Gujarati literature, for example, can be understood as a ‘polysystem’. However, Gujarati literary system would be unique from other literary systems as literary activities and their inter-relations are unique themselves. Such theorization requires inclusion and exclusion of what Even-Zohar has called ‘literary activities’. Defining and recognizing such activities is one of the primary aims of this paper. This paper will also attempt to analyze the genre of adventure and its connection with children’s fiction by examining Gujarati Children’s literature and will attempt to understand its formation.