Fashioning the Social: Shakespearean Translations in the Kannada Literary Polysystem

Shakespearean plays have been the most widely translated and adapted texts into Indian languages, including the Kannada language. This essay focuses on the translations that occurred during the period between 1847 and 1930. This essay discusses the emergence of modern theatre and translations of English plays in the Kannada literary polysystem in particular and Indian literary tradition in general. The essay examines the transition from the traditional theatre, the emergence of the “company plays”, and transition from traditional theatre to the proscenium theatre, and the rise of plays as social criticism. It attempts to show how English textual practices have influenced Kannada theatre in multiple ways. Further, it explains how Kannada translations of Shakespeare played a significant role in local societal changes, argues that these translations brought modern thought into the Kannada literary tradition, and critically traces the trajectory of the journey of Western texts into the Kannada language through translations of English plays including Shakespeare.