Cultural transmission and semantic loss in the English translation of V. J. James’s Nireeswaran

Translation is widely regarded as an art that involves retelling an author's story in an entirely different language while preserving the essence and meaning of the original text. The primary significance of translation lies in conveying words and expressions from one language to another without distorting the original meaning. Ideally, there should be minimal addition or omission during the translation process. Furthermore, the translated text should be both highly expressive and accurate. This study examines the extent of cultural and linguistic challenges in translation through a comparative analysis of V. J. James’s Nireeswaran (2014), a highly acclaimed Malayalam novel, and its English translation Nireeswaran (2022) by Ministhy S. The novel, noted for its rich cultural elements and literary significance, poses unique challenges in maintaining equivalence between the source and target texts. The study explores how effectively the translated text conveys the original’s cultural and contextual nuances by analysing translation strategies and the translator's techniques in overcoming linguistic gaps. This work aims to analyse the potential loss of meaning that occurs due to cultural and linguistic challenges through a comparative reading of V. J. James's Sahitya Akademi award-winning 320-page novel, Nireeswaran (2014, 582 pages in Kindle edition 2016) which has already undergone 22 editions, and its English translation Nireeswaran (2022) by Ministhy S. The author, V.J. James grew up in Changanacherry, Kerala, and worked at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. This debut novel received the DC Silver Jubilee Award (1999), Malayattoor Prize and Rotary Literary Award. Nireeswaran also received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Basheer Puraskaram and Vayalar Award.