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South Asian literature in translation (not) in the US

       Mahmud Rahman has been exploring 'Why are so few South Asian translations published in the U.S.?' at the Asymptote weblog in some depth now -- see part iv -- but I now conclude that he and those he been speaking with (including me) are deluding themselves. The situation is near-hopeless, and certainly far worse than imagined
       Two weeks ago, on 22 August, U.R.Ananthamurthy passed away -- without question, one of the leading Indian writers of his time. But Ananthamurthy wrote in Kannada, and even though quite a few of his works were translated into English, and (nominally) available/distributed in the US/UK -- Oxford University Press published international editions of both Bharathipura and Samskara -- and even though he was a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize ... no one seems to have even noticed in the US/UK.
       None of the major (or, from what can I see, minor) publications -- The New York Times, The Guardian, etc. etc. -- have even so much mentioned his passing. (The 'major' UK mention seems to be Tim Parks' brief notice at the Man Booker site (i.e. something somewhere no one will ever stumble across it).) Whatever his stature in India (kinda towering ...), even that's not good enough to warrant timely coverage of his passing in the US/UK.
       It suggests Salman Rushdie knew exactly what he was doing when he put together his infamous The Vintage Book Of Indian Writing 1947-1997 -- infamous for restricting itself almost entirely to English-writing authors.
       US/UK audiences seem not at all ready for -- or the least bit interested in -- non-English writing from the sub-continent (or, indeed, much of the rest of that continent ...).
       Sigh.

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