By Nazia Kamali
Coming from a family of doctors, I was raised to believe in the power of science and technology, and was conditioned to pursue the field. Writing was considered an extracurricular activity to pad the resume. Furthermore, writing in English was supposed to display my understanding of the second language that I learned in school, and not turn into the protagonist of my career.
When I decided to pursue writing and enrolled in a writing course, one of the teachers advised me to translate anything I could lay my hands on. She believed that it would make my expressions blossom. “Words change their form with context,” she told me, “‘See’ becomes observe, scan, gaze, scrutinize, depending on the intent of the characters. It is the word choice that decides what the readers feel when they read your words. Inadequate vocabulary limits the effectiveness of writing.”
To date, this is one of the best writing tips I ever received.
Translating a text is tiring, for some, it can be boring as well. However, searching for the correct verbs and adjectives evolves vocabulary. For bilingual writers like me, who cherish the desire to pen stories and essays in a second language, translation is an effective exercise to understand expressions. Finding the exact word to substitute for the meaning, tone, and mood while maintaining the originality of the text can be mind-numbing and stimulating at the same time.
Descriptions in the works of master narrators are flooded with symbolism, exposing characters’ traits, biases, train of thoughts, observations, and reactions. Translating Rangbhoomi by Munshi Premchand, a revered Hindi writer, helped me comprehend how to expose the core of my characters using descriptions instead of dialogues. Looking for words to depict the settings through the eyes of the characters taught me exactitude. I combed through dictionaries, thesaurus, and the internet, and landed on phrases I hadn’t heard before. Discovering the right way to use those words in the sentence, while preserving the spirit of the paragraph and the story at large, opened new vistas.
Anyone familiar with the works of Harivansh Rai Bachchan recognizes how his words are stringed into poetic prose. Maintaining the lyricism, focusing on every syllable of the translated word, another backbreaking exercise, carved me into a crafty writer.
The more time I spent translating texts from Hindi to English, the less time it took me to write my own stories. Words, synonyms, antonyms, phrases, and idioms sprang into my mind. My meandering around the words reduced; I knew exactly what to say. The expressions came from muscle memory.
It does not matter which second language you know. If you are lucky enough to be bilingual, translate texts. Study how the prolific writers have explored the thoughts of the characters, walk through the labyrinth that has already been created, learn how they weave stories, foreshadow secrets, and then expose them – writing is writing, language does not matter. Pick a book, something you read as a child in school or while on a train ride, and start writing.
You may be tempted to write the literal translation that comes to your mind as soon as you read a sentence – don’t do that. Ask yourself, is this what the character means? Is this the best way to describe the settings from the perspective of the narrator? Delve deep into the personality of the characters – what expressions would they use? The words are already penned down, all you need to do is find the perfect translation.
Write several translations of a single sentence and then compare them with one another – which one expresses the context the best. Ask yourself if you are preserving the authenticity of the text. Arrange and rearrange the words in a sentence and then the sentences in the paragraph. Slog over each word, each sentence, and each punctuation.
You may never publish the translations of the short stories or the voluminous novel that you slogged through, but the beauty it lends you your writing cannot be denied.
Nazia Kamali: Born and raised in Dehradun, a small valley on the foothills of the Himalayas, Nazia fell in love with writing at a young age. Her work can be read on FemAsia, Rigorous, CafeLit, and other online journals. Her novella, Multicoloured Muffler was published in the Anthology by Running Wild Press. She had also published her novel Beyond the Interregnum recently.
