Report: Yugank
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Aug 7: ‘The UpheavalAcchev’, published in 1977 and the first Konkani novel to be translated into English, is considered to be a landmark in the history of the language, because of its amplitude and depth. It illumines peasant life in Ponda district against the changing landscape of modernity and industrialization that have fragmented village communities. The second edition of the book was released by Dr Maria Aurora Cuto, renowned English writer, at an function held at Aldona.

The novel is about a traditional agrarian society that lives by myths and unspoken rules, and how it comes into contact with modern, mechanical ways of living. It provides insights into the sociological framework of rural Goa at the time of its liberation from Portuguese rule.

Critics have hailed this as ‘a near-perfect work’, and the elegant English translation retains the nuance, lilt, humour, and poetic rhythm of the original. This novel is an integral part of India’s regional literatures. This rendering, part of a growing list of translations undertaken by Oxford University Press, will ensure a wider readership.

Pundalik N. Naik is a poet, short-story writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He has 40 books and two films to his credit, and has won several awards.

Vidya Pai, who has translated the novel into English, is a freelance journalist, who has won awards for translation, including the Katha Award 1993 and the Humanscape Translation Award 1996.