The Department of Languages at Sankardev College, Shillong, organised a two-day national seminar on the ‘Role of Translation and Comparative Study of Regional Literature in the process of National Integration’.
The seminar, which was sponsored by ICSSR (NERC), was held on March 7-8 with 25 paper presenters from across the North East region.
The keynote address was delivered by Desmond L Kharmawphlang, Professor in the Department of Cultural and Creative Studies at NEHU. In his address, he spoke on the importance of research and publication in translation, comparative studies and national integration, being three distinct areas.
He further highlighted how tribal languages have many examples of what is technically called “onomatopoeia”, meaning “the word denoting a sound”. Khasi language is one such language rich in onomatopoeia and he also stated that some words spoken 25 years ago are now becoming extinct, especially by the younger generation. He referred to the agora, a marketplace where Plato used to teach. The market then was the arena of learning and artistic communication and the same was the case in Indian culture, where the marketplace became the focal point for intelligent conversation, discourse and social interaction.
He concluded his speech by saying that “literature has no place for hatred, jealousy and competition. Literature has a place for love and for that, we should embrace these values and make them part of us as scholars”.
TK Bamon, Vice-Chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University, was the resource person who spoke on the technicalities and intricacies of translations in research.
