Understanding culture crucial to making translation effective: Booker Prize winner Deepa Bhasthi

“Translation is a complex process. Language is not just a communication tool. It also carries various aspects of the culture with it, and a translator has to have an understanding of the culture in order to make the translation more effective and authentic,” says International Booker Prize winner Deepa Bhasthi.

Speaking at the ‘Dharege Doddavaru’ programme organised by Karnatak Vidyavardhak Sangha as part of the ‘Nadahabba’, month-long Karnataka Rajyotsava celebrations in Dharwad, on November 11, 2025, she termed translation as a process of language interacting with another language. She would like to define the translated work as ‘third text’.

Elaborating on her own experience in translating for Heart Lamp, she explained the various nuances she had to keep in mind because she was translating a work of art that revolved around a culture to which she was new.

She emphasised that translation involved various aspects of a language. One had to make lot of effort to capture the context and culture in the original language, and then trans-create it.

Elaborating on the richness of Kannada hidden in its various dialects, she said that a lot of original work written in the dialects of Kannaada had not been translated, and called on the youngsters to make efforts towards the same.

Deepa Bhasthi said, “Unlike in other countries, it is difficult to make translation a career in India. Yet, the work of a translator is not being appreciated to the extent it is in other countries.”

She said that as there were several great works of literature in Kannada, more people should come forward to translate them to other languages and English. “To preserver Kannada, one has to keep using it. It is everyone’s responsibility to strengthen the roots of Kannada by using it,” she said.

Journalist Rishikesh Bahadur Desai introduced Deepa Bhasthi and her work.

General Secretary of KVV Sangha Shankar Halagatti coordinated the event.

In the interaction that followed, students and participants asked questions about the translation process, complexities, the challenges involved and related issues.

Sangha office-bearers Shankar Halagatti, Shrinivas Wadappi, Shankar Kumbi, Visheshwari Hiremath and others felicitated Deepa Bhasthi.