Translation of Anzaldúa’s book Borderlands in Indian language(s): A challenge in the Indian context

Abstract

This paper is a part of a project of translation of the book of Gloria Anzaldúa’ Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987) in Indian language(s). Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza is one of the path-breaking books which came in the time when Afro-American feminism already stood in opposition to white feminism by questioning the Euro-American centric feminism. Anzaldúa started discussing Chicana feminism together with black feminism. Her book Borderlands is a painful but challenging narration of those who live on the ‘barbwire’ between Mexico and the USA. In defining the border, she goes beyond the physical meaning to its symbolic significance, and one of them is language. Language in her book has been uniquely presented as an identity that is multilingual, creolized, mestiza and subaltern language. Hence, her book is a challenge in the field of translation, especially in Indian context where languages have political, social and historical impact. Considering the above book as a project, I would primarily discuss why this book should be translated considering the Indian context? What are the different ways in which the translation can be defined in translating a text from One-Third world to another Third world? In this process, we find it relevant to revise the language and its relations to power in a postcolonial India, taking into account caste, class, and colonial discourse. This epitome opens a debate to enter into the new political strategies which Gloria Anzaldúa propagates through her book “Nueva Conciencia Mestiza” as moving towards “new language” which could be more inclusive.