Translating Ecology and Material Culture: Understanding Strategies and Shift in The Ballad of Ayesha

Abstract

The current study exposes the translation strategy of ecology and material culture in The Ballad of Ayesha (2018) and the resulting translation shift. This novel is Inam Ahmed’s English translation of the Bengali novel Ayeshamangal (2010) by Anisul Hoque. Ayeshamangal is a Bengali novel written in a fully Bengali context and it is quite difficult for the translator to translate the issues of ecology and material culture by keeping the flavor of the original text intact. The current paper attempts to evaluate whether the translator is successful or not in conveying the sense of the original text to the translated one. This research also investigates the translator’s attitude to equivalence in the TT as well as the problems and dilemma he faces in dealing with various cultural aspects of the novel as we know that English and Bengali languages have different structures. Peter Newmark’s concept of cultural categories in translation is a key to the discussions attempted in this study. The paper foregrounds the translating issues of ecology and material culture in the TT, attempts to investigate the procedures and strategies used by the translator, and probes the possible translation shift.