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Abstract

The debates of ‘equivalence’ and ‘fidelity’ in translation have been giving way to newer concepts of Culture Turn, and more inclusive interpretation of texts. This paper tries to study the problems of translations across cultures- both indigenous and outside India. The question of power relations within typical Indian (Hindi) households is faithfully depicted by the eminent author, Malti Joshi, (winner of the prestigious Padmashree award), through her extremely insightful short stories. But the translation of these stories into English would involve a three-fold difficulty in overcoming the barriers of language, culture and power relations. The emotions, experiences and interactions of characters in Malti Joshi’s short story 'Problem Child' (Hindi lay open for the readers to interpret in the perspective of gender references between a Hindi text and its translation. Even though the English used could be in the capacity of an Indian language, the limitations remain, as the translated story is now visible to any Anglophone outside the country also. It therefore attracts cultural adaptations and explanations which might reduce the efficiency of the translation. The paper tries to discuss some possible effective translational theories through practical demonstration by translating from selected short stories of Malti Joshi from Hindi to English.

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