How to sift through the online available sources?
Hello
I am a PHd student in the field of comparative literature. My Thesis includes a comparative study of the personal diaries of a prominent Urdu Historian and poet Altaf Hussain Hali with the two collection (divan) of his poems, in order to reconstruct the political and literary debate of the time, which seems shed light on an alternative perception of reality that was being perceived and experienced. I am not fluent in the language in which Hali wrote, therefore most of my reading has been in translation, there seems to be a number of translations available of the same. These many translations have put me in a dilemma because each of it tends to posit a slightly different or altogether different stance. What could be the best way to select or reject the translated texts, particularly when they deal with history?
Discuss your Dissertation 
Alisa Craig 10:28 am on December 28, 2017 Permalink |
Name:Alisa Craig Email: Craigcoolqueen@gmail.com
Hi, your research sounds very interesting, and this a common problem that any scholar dealing with a translated texts has to face. I suggest you could focus on the translation intent of every translator which would give you a fair understanding of the stance and intention of the translator thereby explaining the omission or additions you must have encountered, and you could also chronologically align the publishing dates that would also allow you to come to an understanding of the changes that have occurred over time. This way you could make an informed decision.
Aaron Wilson 10:30 am on December 28, 2017 Permalink |
Name:Aaron Wilson Email: Wislon.aaron2014@gmail.com
Hello, This is a valid anxiety, since translation is a nuanced phenomenon it tends to differ from the other translations sometimes. I suggest you could consider a number of them even if they differ from each other, and then you can elaborately refute or laud these translations and try to build a discourse out of it, that will allow you a better scope of comparison and analysis. Then you could try and work your way out of this confusion.