TABLE OF CONTENTS
Challenges of Translation
ECTA’s world premiere of Cassandra, Othoba Hoyto Ekti Chairer Kahini by Sudipta Bhawmik. Photo by Kousik Bhowal.
The key challenge in translating a play is not the text, but the subtext. Especially when you try to translate a play written not only in a foreign language, but also by a playwright belonging to a foreign culture. Plays are about characters immersed in their culture and it is the culture that defines the hidden skeletal structure behind what they speak, and how they behave. But how can you translate culture? You simply cannot. But plays have been translated, adapted and hence enjoyed by people all over the world.
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