Astri Ghosh
At the Art & Lit Festival
The VIth edition of the Art & Lit festival in Goa,sale which started on 10th December, doctor  has several eminent writers. It was tough to figure out who to interview, and after much contemplation zeroed in on four writers, and Astri Ghosh is among them.
Astri Ghosh is a literary Translator at the Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo, and is based in Goa, India. Being half Norwegian, she is a native speaker of Bengali, Hindi and Norwegian. Schooling in Delhi, then a Mag. Art degree from Oslo University, she has translated several books, plays, novels, poems and short stories, from Norwegian into Hindi, and Bengali and has participated in the Art & Lit fest in Goa since 2011.
In conversation about Astriâs journey as a translator –
Perin-Â Why did you decide to do translations.
Astri- It just happened. I was doing technical translations, then, as a consultant with a publishing house in Oslo, translated Qurrat-ul-Ain Hyderâs , (one of the most celebrated trend setter of Urdu fiction writers in India), short stories to Norwegian, thatâs how it started.
P- What is the deciding factor of sourcing books for translations.
A-I look at books that interest me. I did playâs by Norwegian playwright Henry Gibson. One was Enemy of the People, regarding the town health baths and the rumors that have been raised about them being contaminated. The brothers get into an argument about their positions on hiding the truth and shaping it, to get the results that are convenient.
The other was Dollâs House, where a woman gets disillusioned by her marriage and walks out. However, most of the time, I get assignments from the Oslo University.
P- The challenges of translating from one language to another.
A-The first is cultural differences, and in conveying it to Hindi readers by using the precise word. I am currently involved in a project entitled âIbsen in Translationâ Henrik Ibsen, was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. Ten translators are working together creating new translations of Ibsenâs twelve contemporary dramas in eight languages : Arabic (both Classical Arabic and Egyptian Arabic), Hindi, Spanish, Persian, Chinese, Japanese and Russian.
Ibsenâs characters have an individual way of expressing themselves, through which their level of education and refinement manifests. Many translations into Hindi, Bengali or Urdu do not follow Ibsenâs original use of Norwegian personal pronouns such as du or de because of reliance on English translations, which use only âyouâ. I went to rural places out in the countryside, looking for Hindi words that are used colloquially.
She elaborates on these translation issues and on other ways in which subtle meanings of Ibsenâs plays can become lost in translation.
P- You translated Sikh hymns into Norwegian. Who are the readerâs?
A-Mostly itâs people who are interested in scriptures. It actually sold 6000 copies.
P- Your presentation at the Art Fest.
A-As we speak ( 8th Dec) I havenât yet got the program of time schedules, whether Iâm involved in discussions and if so, who is the mediator, or if I would be mediating another author. I have no clue of whatâs happening.
Astri also organizes jazz festivals, is an art curator, and has starred in a film about a woman with Alzheimerâs. She is also translating a crime novel by Jo NesbĂž, (pronounced jun?sbĂž,) a Norwegian crime writer, musician and former economist, into Hindi.