Enriching Cultural Awareness through Translation Studies: A Study of Tribal Culture in Mahasweta Devi’s The Book of the Hunter

Abstract

Advancements in Digital Technology have provided easy access to literature, worldwide. Literature, emanating from various languages across the world, when translated expose readers to the socio-cultural aspects of other regions - their language, customs, relationships, history etc. Translated works also enrich the target language by introducing new terminology into it. Mahasweta Devi, a renowned Indian writer and social activist has written in Bengali which was later translated into  English. The selected work, The Book of the Hunter portrays a wide canvas of Indian tribal culture and while translating it, along with the target language, some phrases and concepts from the source language that is Bengali are used. This paper focuses on how linguistic hybridity and code-switching help readers worldwide to get acquainted with various elements of the rich tribal culture of the Shabars, who are occupational hunters and who are known to be living closely to the source culture.