NIE! "Maria Nephele" by Odysseus Elytis

Title: Maria Nephele: A Poem In Two Voices

Author: Odysseus Elytis

Translator: Athan Anagnostopoulos

While, once again, perusing the stacks at the UT Knoxville library, I cam across a section reserved for Modern Greek, among which the popular poet Odysseus Elytis appeared to have a nearly a full shelf. He did, after all, win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1979. Although he is well known for his work Axion Esti,I chose to read Maria Nephele due to its fascinating structure. And it certainly wasn’t disappointing.

Faux Feminism? An Ad In India

Feminism and women’s empowerment – two concepts that seem to be taking the West by storm. You can find these terms in various debates in the US – from the right birth control to the right to wear/or not wear clothing. But how does it fair in India? What do people associate with feminism? What are the variants?

Well, that question is far too complicated to answer now. But that doesn't mean there aren't brief slivers of information. A more recent one I've noticed is a frequent ad for OLX – the Craigslist of India.

Into India: Happy Holidays

Nestled at the foot of the Western Gnats, the controversy over at my alma mater, the University of Tennessee appeared pitiful at best. I don’t mean that the students and faculty are wasting their time fighting for a more inclusive environment. But rather that our representatives are making a mockery of the citizenry once again – by claiming that respecting all folks regardless of belief is discriminating against Christen values. I say this, not to be political, but because, quite frankly, from the other side of the globe, the idea that saying “holiday” rather than “Christmas” devalues the latter is absurd. And often “holiday” is the perfect blanket term.

Experiments with Hindi

After a few weeks of adjusting to the mid-tropical Pune environment, I revved up my energies to begin learning Hindi. This time, however, I experimented with two theories from well-known polyglots – I joined Tim Ferriss’ article How to Learn But Not Master Any Language In 1 Hour and Benny Lewis’ Fluent in 3 Months. However, I did have one handicap: I intended to continue working on my German. That meant I couldn't spend as much time on Hindi as other languages learners might on this sort of challenge.

Short Form: Gayatri Spiyak

Gayatri Spiyak’s work on post colonialism and feminism in literature has made a profound impact on the interpretation of Third World literature. You may, in fact, remember her name from my post on Post-Colonialism and the Reader. Spiyak grew up and studied in Calcutta, before obtaining her PhD in Comparative Literature from Cornell. She founded the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University, where she is a professor. In addition, she was the first woman of color to occupy the highest faculty position in the entire history of the university.While Spiyak’s primary focus is not translation, the subject cannot be avoided in her field. And while Spiyak’s work centers on feminism, it is important to note that there is no reason her approach to translation can be applied across the board. The primary text I am using for this summary comes from her article, “The Politics of Translation”.