>But if the language is English, the audience is non-Assamese, then
Jatra may not sell as much - from a marketing
stand point. The word 'Jatra' may not carry the >meaning journey in some
other languages, but Yatraa might.
Now if the magazine is really meant
for English speaking audience, what an American or British will reader
understand by the word Yatraa or Jatra?.
Nothing. Both are equally
meaningless to him. If your audience is English speakers in the broad
world, why not give an English name like A LITERARY JOURNEY or
something else in English? Why you are bringing a Sanskrit word in between
the Assamese literature and English audience?
From that angle actually the
name Yatraa is even more meaningless, because looking at the
name a non Indian English reader will never buy that magazine unless there is a
quick 5 second explanation in every front cover of the magazine first how to
pronounce Yatraa (That Y as in Yes, a as in UP, aa as in father etc) then what
is the meaning (Journey), a completely non profitable proposition I would say.
By that time probably the customer will loose his attention to something more
catchy.
Now while being critical of the
name I really laud the idea and the effort and adventure in trying to publish
such an magazine, Assamese literature in English translation, which we need very
badly. I simply hope the producers would not take my criticism for the magazine
but just for the name of the magazine, I think they are not deeply thinking
about how the name will be received by an American or British or Japanese
reader looking at the magazine suddenly in their libraries (say).
Please don't mind, in all these, I
see how our Assamese mind is influenced and rather chained by pan Indian pan
Sanskrit culture. We need to come out free as an Assamese soul.
RB
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2006 2:25
PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Yaatra, Garioshi
etc
Barua,
In Assamese we pronounce it as 'Jatra' and thats as it should be. I have
no problems with your arguements there, and agree that the magazine be named
as such.
But let us look at it from a different angle. The magazine 'Yatraa' is an
English language magazine (so I guess the audience is the rest of India). If
they were targetting an Assamese audience, then Jatra would be the right way.
"An English language
journal named Yaatra is all set to bring Assamese
literature to readers, writes Utpal Borpujari"
But if the language is English, the audience is non-Assamese, then
Jatra may not sell as much - from a
marketing stand point. The word 'Jatra' may not carry the
meaning journey in some other languages, but Yatraa
might.
Now if your argument is that
proper name can have any spelling (which is right in a way) , then why we are
trying to change the name of Assam to Asom at all?. Why we changed the name of
Gauhati to Guwahati, Calcutta to Kolkata, Bombay to Mumbai etc . Why? These
are all just proper names after all.
I agree with your
assessment as you had indicated in a previous post regarding the
historical significance to the English names and so they be kept the same
way.
I brought it up because the
example you gave that "Gauhati University" remains the same (even though the
city has changed its name). I think it should be so.
Not being a linguist of any
means, I was thinking only from a marketing point of view.
What if we were to translate
these Assamese language stories for German readers? What title would you
suggest so as to marketl the magazine in Germany?
--Ram
On 2/14/06, Rajen
Barua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
You are right in a way. We can
right proper name any whichever way we want to write. I can write
Barua in so many different ways.But please think again what you are talking
about.
Gariyoshi is an Assamese magazine. I am not
asking that Gariyashi should change the name because I am saying so. People
will pronounce it GARIOSHI, a pronunciation which does not have any meaning
in Assamese language, and that may be perfectly all right to Gariyoshi
people. Let them rest in haven.
But if you are
saying if it has the proper Assamnese Roman transliteration like
GORIOXI instead of Sanskrit as it is now, Assamese people
will not buy it outside Assam? (If you are right, then I would say that is
the problem of the Assamese people. They want their big brother's approval.
That actually more than proves my point. Assamese people are suffering from
a bigger inferiority complex then I would like to think.)
Like Gorioxi,
Yatraa is a magazine with an Assamese name with a
meaning. People will pronounce it YATRAA the way it is
written, a pronunciation which does not have any meaning in Assamese.
Now I would imagine, when the producer named it YATRAA he had some idea
probably have the Assamese meaning in mind. Although these are proper
names, these have Assamese meaning. (Conversely, imagine writing the word
JARNI = Journey in Assamese as JARONI for a name of a magazine, and calling
it OK because it is just a name of a magazine? It is exactly like it.
People will pronounce it as JARONI which pronunciation does not have any
meaning in English. But one may always argue to deaths with backward
logic and win. I have seen many. And life goes perfectly all right.)
But I thought it my sacred duty
to point out to the Assamese people what is right and what is wrong.
So far proper Assamese Roman spelling is concerned, XADIN, PROTIDIN,
JONOMBHUMI, XONGKORDEV, XOTRIA, OXOM, XIBOXAGOR etc are the
proper phonetic spellings which represent proper Assamese
pronunciation. (The letter A as used by Hindi and Sanskrit for Hosro
A, for vowel sound like U as in UP, does not represent the Assamese O sound
of OXOM etc) So if we name ASOM, people will read USOM and
definitely not OXOM. Now that may be perfectly all right to the Assamese (or
shall we say Asomese) people. And life will go on.
Now if your argument is that
proper name can have any spelling (which is right in a way) , then why we
are trying to change the name of Assam to Asom at all?. Why we changed the
name of Gauhati to Guwahati, Calcutta to Kolkata, Bombay to Mumbai etc .
Why? These are all just proper names after all.
Please think your logic
again.
What I am saying, you are right
just for the sake of argument, but not right for the context we are
discussing.
Assamese peole are doing it
wrong since Yandabu Xondhi. That does not mean we need to conitnue with our
errors. We need to do a beginning for correction.
RB
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2006 8:35
AM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Yaatra
Please forgive me for butting in.
Barua, as this a 'proper' name of a magazine, why should any attempt
be made to change it.
A word like 'Gorioxi' in a magazine that is interested
in marketing itself outside the NE might have the same problems of
Asom/Axom we were discussing yesterday.
I think there is a contradiction somewhere.
On 2/14/06, utpal
borpujari <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
wrote:
Dear Shreejut Barua,
Thanks for your mail. You definitely have a point about how we
should write Assamese words in English. This is the name given to the
journal by its publishers, the North-East Foundation. I am sure if you
also send this mail to Dr Dhruba Jyoti Borah, who is the man behind this
positive endeavour (since this is probably the first time ever that
an independent effort has been made to take contemporary Assamese
literature to the outside world), they will look positively into your
suggestions.
With regards,
Utpal Borpujari / New Delhi
Yatraa
????
This Roman
spelling is another creation of Ignorant Assamese
scholars!!
Assamese language
has only one a-kar pronounciation (unlike
Hindi and Sanskrit).
Therefore the
'yatraa' in Assamese
Roman Script should be written by a single vowel a as written for the first vowel. In Hindi and
Sanskrit, they have two a sounds.
Don't follow them.
Second, in
Assamese Y is pronounced as YO not JO. So
the correct Roman translation of the word Yatraa should be Jatra.
Similarly the
name of the megazine GARIYOSHI should be
GORIOXI.
Ignorant Assamese
scholars should try to learn and stand for original Assamese creation
and not follow big brother Indian brothers.
Rajen
Barua
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006
4:56 AM
Subject: [Assam] Yaatra
Hi all. I had recently written an article on Yaatra in my
paper. The journal, I feel is a nice and first-time effort. - Utpal
Borpujari / New Delhi
| A Yatraa into light |
|
An English language
journal named Yaatra is all set to bring Assamese literature
to readers, writes Utpal Borpujari.
|
| |
| While Indian writing in
English in recent years has gone to gain international name and
fame, writers who have chosen to express themselves in their mother
tongues in different corners of India have not been fortunate enough
despite giving their readers a huge number of masterpieces.
The culprit has always been the lack of proper translation
of the incredibly rich regional literature. And even when translated
works are published, like those from organisations like Bharatiya
Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi, often they fail to reach the masses
adequately because of non-aggressive marketing. Private publishers,
of course, also do come up with the odd translated work, but they
are merely a sampler of the great treasure trove of literature that
we have. Compared to Bengali, Tamil or Malayalam literature,
the writings from the North-East, and particularly Assam, are a
major victim of this lack of translation, and the great tradition of
Assamese literature is virtually unknown to those outside the
region. In the backdrop of this scenario, a non-governmental
organisation called the North-East Foundation, has launched Yaatra,
an English language journal that will solely concentrate on bringing
before the readers translations of both contemporary and classic
Assamese literary work.
Based in Guwahati,
the foundation is quite aware that it has a daunting task in its
hands, specially as it will not be easy to market the journal all
over India from Assam. But the enthusiasm of the people associated
with the project are quite high, as was visible when the first issue
of the journal was launched recently at the Sahitya Akademi in Delhi
by Akademi Secretary K Satchidanandan in the presence of Jnanpith
Award winning Assamese author Dr Indira (Mamoni Raisom) Goswami,
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and noted intellectual from the
state, Amalendu Guha. Says Foundation chairman and Yaatra
editor Dhruba Jyoti Borah, "It has been a long-standing resentment
of the people of Assam that very little is known in the outside
world about the rich literary and cultural heritage and the present
cultural scene of the state. At the same time, avid curiosity is
noticed about these in the rest of India and also abroad.
Yaatra is a project that seeks to popularise Assamese
literature and culture outside the state and each issue of the
journal will contain a wide selection of the best in contemporary
Assamese literature and culture." Launched as a non-profit venture,
Yaatra will not be available in newsstands like other magazines but
will be distributed in the literary and academic circles both within
and outside the country. The journal, says Borah, will have
several sections that will focus on different areas. Assamese
novels, poetry, short stories, drama, classics, criticism, book
reviews, folklore and culture will be the focus areas of the project
which will also seek to include literature and culture from the
other North-Eastern states in it. "Assamese literature has
developed considerably over the years. It has drawn its sustenance
from the great Bhakti movement of Srimanta Sankardev, the 'buranjis'
and the folk traditions of myriad groups of people that inhabit the
region," he says. For more info contact; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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