How Sahitya Akademi promotes India lit abroad

Translations, publications, delegations spread the Indian word around the world

GN Bureau | November 20, 2019


#Sahitya Akademi   #Ministry of Culture   #literature   #Prahlad Singh Patel  
Books housed at the Sahitya Akademi library in Delhi (File photo: Governance Now)
Books housed at the Sahitya Akademi library in Delhi (File photo: Governance Now)

Sahitya Akademi, the autonomous organization under the ministry of culture, has been silently promoting Indian literature abroad through a host of activities, including promotion of translations.

The Akademi has helped translate much-talked about Bangla novel ‘Herbert’ by Nabarun Bhattacharya in German (published by Draupadi Verlag). Similarly, Khushwant Singh’s partition masterpiece ‘Train to Pakistan’ has been translated into Swedish (published by Aranan Publishing House), and Tamil novelist Ambai’s ‘Kaattil Oru Maan’ into French (publisher: Zulma).

The Akademi has also published under its Cultural Exchange Programme ‘Bhartala Da Natya Shastra’ by Kapila Vatsyayan and ‘Indian Short Stories’ by EV Ramakrishnan in Russian, ‘Kabita’ in Slovenian, and ‘The Dual of the Heart’ in English. The Akademi has been publishing these translations out of fund allotted to it by the Government of India.

The Sahitya Akademi has been translating Indian literary masterpieces into foreign languages under ministry of culture’s project, Indian Literature Abroad (ILA), the minister of state of culture and tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply Tuesday.

Also read: The detailed story in the performance of the institutionChipped nib, dried ink

The Akademi had sent several delegations to different countries under its Cultural Exchange Programme. They include delegations to the Hay Festival, Segovia, Spain (22-25 September 2016), London to participate in London Book Fair (14-16 March 2017), the Festival of India in Brazil (04-10 September 2017), a seminar on ‘Influence of Sanskrit & Pali on South East Asian Languages’ under the Festival of India in Thailand (23-27 September 2017), a Sanskrit round table as part of India’s 70th independence anniversary celebrations in Spain (17-21 October 2017) and the same in Israel (05-10 November 2017). Also: the Akademi participated in the Vishwa Hindi Sammelan, Mauritius (18-20 August 2018), Sharjah International Book Fair (31 October-09 November 2018), and sent a delegation to participate in Festival of India in Nepal (19-21 March 2019).

Comments

 

Other News

`Climate change weakens La Nina’s cooling effect, triggers early heatwaves across India`

India is witnessing an unusually early onset of summer this year, with winter ending by early February and heatwave conditions already emerging across several parts of the country. Scientists say the trend reflects how long-term climate change is increasingly overpowering natural climate patterns such as L

`BMC school enrolment rises to 44%, only 48% students reach class 10`

Student enrolment in schools run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has seen a gradual rise over the past decade, reaching 44% in 2024–25, according to the latest report released by the Praja Foundation. However, the report highlights significant concerns over student retention, language

Will AI usher in a new agricultural revolution?

The 2026 Union Budget highlights the necessity of making scientific agricultural research more accessible to farmers in India. The announcement of Bharat- VISTAAR (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources), a multilingual AI tool for farmers to increase agricultural productivity, indica

Freedom of speech in Parliament is guaranteed: Lok Sabha speaker

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Thursday emphasized that freedom of speech in Parliament is guaranteed, but it is subject to the Constitution and to the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of Parliament. He said that detailed guidelines exist under the rules regarding how Members should conduc

Beyond broken bones: The bruises the law cannot see

When violence becomes lawful in one place and tolerable everywhere else, the bruises are no longer Afghanistan’s alone; they belong to all of us.   Somewhere a woman walks in silence, Counting the bruises no one will see. The la

Jishnu Dev Varma sworn in as governor of Maharashtra

Jishnu Dev Varma was sworn in as the 22nd Governor of Maharashtra on Tuesday at a ceremony held at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan. The oath of office was administered by Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.   The ceremony commenced with the national anthem and t


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter