TRANSLATION STUDIES AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: A MUTUAL CONNECT

Abstract

The world we live in has become globalized and multicultural. Having become so, the world has made translation of works more significant as a genuine, utilitarian, and cultural practice which is analysed critically. A tremendous increase in human relationships and interaction, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, across linguistic and cultural boundaries, irrespective of the fact that they might be regional, national or international has created an increased need for communication across the world. This ever increasing demand for cross-linguistic translation might not mean that the world is a more humane, gentle and interactive place. But the time accentuated by an increased political and cultural antipathy and the tension between geo-linguistic entities like the one following the September 11, 2001 attacks, generate a need for more translated works from Arabic and other languages into English and vice-versa. With a surge in the modern amenities like air travel and quite an easy access to the internet, the actual and virtual travellers sphere has widened considerably. So, translation has also  become a necessity. It is a commonly known fact that people do not say exactly the same things in different languages as suggested or mentioned in the bilingual dictionaries. Facial and body gestures are not similar. Even the colours are not indicated in the same manner in different languages. Many things are dissimilar in different circumstances in various parts of the world. So, when we attempt to combine even the commonplace terms with the problems confronted in interpreting and comprehending abstract ideas such as political sovereignty and individual identity from one language to another, we begin to understand the difficulties, the importance and the need of translation across languages of the world.