{"id":322,"date":"2016-09-30T10:21:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T08:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projekt-mida.de\/?post_type=project&p=322"},"modified":"2026-05-06T09:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T07:59:00","slug":"indian-literature-translation-ddr","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.projekt-mida.de\/en\/project\/indian-literature-translation-ddr\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Indian Literature in Translation in the GDR<\/span> \u2013 Between Ideology, Censorship and Cultural Diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Project Man\u00adag\u00ader: Dr. Mar\u00adtin Christof-F\u00fcch\u00adsle
Direc\u00adtion: Prof. Dr. Ravi Ahu\u00adja
Project Sta\u00adtus: running <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project exam\u00adines trans\u00adla\u00adtions from mod\u00adern Indi\u00adan lan\u00adguages, includ\u00ading Indi\u00adan Eng\u00adlish, which were pub\u00adlished in the GDR<\/span> amid ten\u00adsions between ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy and cul\u00adtur\u00adal diplo\u00adma\u00adcy. With ref\u00ader\u00adence to the offi\u00adcial frame\u00adwork con\u00addi\u00adtions of pub\u00adlish\u00ading in the GDR<\/span>, which were char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized by insti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adized cen\u00adsor\u00adship, the dis\u00adcourse on the polit\u00adi\u00adcal and ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal eval\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion of the text and the author is analysed. In addi\u00adtion, the lit\u00ader\u00adary and aes\u00adthet\u00adic eval\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion of the texts is of inter\u00adest, espe\u00adcial\u00adly with regard to a pos\u00adtu\u00adlat\u00aded ide\u00adal of \u201cinter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture\u201d accept\u00adable to the GDR<\/span> as a \u201cread\u00ading nation.\u201d Between 1963 and 1990, there were a total of about 45 such trans\u00adla\u00adtions from Indi\u00adan lan\u00adguages, which were often ini\u00adtial\u00adly medi\u00adat\u00aded through Eng\u00adlish or Russian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions are planned. One arti\u00adcle, which has already been pub\u00adlished and is based on a lec\u00adture giv\u00aden at the con\u00adfer\u00adence \u2018Nodes of Trans\u00adla\u00adtion: Rethink\u00ading Mod\u00adern Intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal His\u00adto\u00adry between South Asia and Ger\u00admany (7\u20139 July 2022)\u2019, pro\u00advides an intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to the cen\u00adsor\u00adship sys\u00adtem in the GDR<\/span> and an overview of the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion of the most inter\u00adest\u00ading and con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsial works by Indi\u00adan authors in trans\u00adla\u00adtion. (\u2018Inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal GDR<\/span> Lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, Cen\u00adsor\u00adship and the Pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion of Trans\u00adla\u00adtions from Mod\u00adern Indi\u00adan Lan\u00adguages in the GDR<\/span>,\u2019 in Nodes of Trans\u00adla\u00adtion. Intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal His\u00adto\u00adry between Mod\u00adern India and Ger\u00admany, ed. Mar\u00adtin Christof-F\u00fcch\u00adsle and Razak Khan, 293\u2013322. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A case study will exam\u00adine the image of Rabindranath Tagore that pre\u00advailed in the GDR<\/span> in the late 1950s, as reflect\u00aded in the expert opin\u00adions on appli\u00adca\u00adtions for print\u00ading per\u00admits for trans\u00adla\u00adtions of his works \u2013 the \u2018cen\u00adsor\u00adship doc\u00adu\u00adments\u2019 \u2013 and then analyse how this image changed in lec\u00adtures, aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic and pop\u00adu\u00adlar lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, and com\u00admem\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive address\u00ades fol\u00adlow\u00ading the GDR<\/span> lead\u00ader\u00adship\u2019s deci\u00adsion to par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpate promi\u00adnent\u00adly in the cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtions mark\u00ading the 100th birth\u00adday of the Ben\u00adgali author in 1961, which in turn was reflect\u00aded in the \u2018cen\u00adsor\u00adship doc\u00adu\u00adments\u2019 that were sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtion sup\u00adple\u00adments the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion of the genre of reportage and trav\u00adel lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture on India as writ\u00adten by Ger\u00adman-speak\u00ading authors in the GDR<\/span>. Here, too, the doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion of the print\u00ading approval process is analysed in order to demon\u00adstrate how and to what extent the cen\u00adsor\u00adship author\u00adi\u00adties, rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtives of the Min\u00adistry of For\u00adeign Affairs or the par\u00adty inter\u00advened in the cre\u00adation of these orig\u00adi\u00adnal texts in order to paint a pic\u00adture of India that was in line with the con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary polit\u00adi\u00adcal sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion \u2013 an influ\u00adence on the writ\u00ading process that is not pos\u00adsi\u00adble in this way when trans\u00adlat\u00ading for\u00adeign-lan\u00adguage texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions will also focus on the role of the actors involved \u2013 pub\u00adlish\u00ading edi\u00adtors, review\u00aders, trans\u00adla\u00adtors and cul\u00adtur\u00adal offi\u00adcials. I assume that the analy\u00adses of the eval\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions of lit\u00ader\u00adary works from mod\u00adern South Asian lan\u00adguages will show that they reflect the polit\u00adi\u00adcal devel\u00adop\u00adments in the GDR<\/span>, inter\u00adnal cul\u00adtur\u00adal pol\u00adi\u00adcy and bilat\u00ader\u00adal rela\u00adtions between India and the GDR<\/span>. This should shed light on the role of trans\u00adla\u00adtions in the GDR\u2019s cul\u00adtur\u00adal diplo\u00adma\u00adcy towards India before and after the polit\u00adi\u00adcal recog\u00adni\u00adtion of the GDR<\/span>. Sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly, the analy\u00adsis of reportage and trav\u00adel lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture will shed light on the rela\u00adtions between the GDR<\/span> and India and high\u00adlight the offi\u00adcial images of India pre\u00advail\u00ading in the GDR<\/span>. In this way, I hope to be able to place both these works and the pub\u00adlished trans\u00adla\u00adtions in the broad\u00ader con\u00adtext of the inter\u00adtwined rela\u00adtions between South Asia and the GDR<\/span> in the fields of lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, cul\u00adture and politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322","project","type-project","status-publish","hentry","category-projects"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nModern Indian Literature in Translation in the GDR \u2013 Between Ideology, Censorship and Cultural Diplomacy - MIDA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.projekt-mida.de\/en\/project\/indian-literature-translation-ddr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Modern Indian Literature in Translation in the GDR \u2013 Between Ideology, Censorship and Cultural Diplomacy - MIDA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Project Man\u00adag\u00ader: Dr. Mar\u00adtin Christof-F\u00fcch\u00adsle Direc\u00adtion: Prof. Dr. Ravi Ahu\u00adja Project Sta\u00adtus: running  The project exam\u00adines trans\u00adla\u00adtions from mod\u00adern Indi\u00adan lan\u00adguages, includ\u00ading Indi\u00adan Eng\u00adlish, which were pub\u00adlished in the GDR amid ten\u00adsions between ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy and cul\u00adtur\u00adal diplo\u00adma\u00adcy. 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