If I had asked you what type of lifestyle you would have in Malaysia, what would you answer with? Of course, it would depend on your age, but lets say its a Friday afternoon and you are in Year 6. What would you do? Perhaps you would say: get home after school and head onto the PS4, play some Fortnite with your friends, eat dinner, shower, then sleep or hide under the covers sneak some extra time onto your phone. Although this may seem quite average for a Friday afternoon, to many others in different countries, they would not say the same. If you were to live in Malaysia, you would probably: finish school, grab something really quick to bite, head to cram school, go home, eat dinner, shower, do homework, have some spare time to do what you want, and then sleep. Although essentially the two lifestyles are the same; school, home, eat, work, relax and sleep, there are many subtle difference when comparing different country’s lifestyle. Unfortunately, people who live and were born in more “Eurocentric” countries, like Australia, the one I live in, have an unintentional censorship to other cultures. They may, as I might too, view the lifestyle which Malaysian students may have, as abnormal and weird. Who would want to go to cram school for hours right after school, still do homework afterwards, on a Friday night? I personally would never. I would much prefer going out with my friends, unwinding, and spending all my money on milk tea. However, just because their lifestyle is different, does not mean it is incorrect nor correct.
A good example of cultural representation and different lifestyles is a story by Latha called There Was a Bridge in Tekka. This story follows an elderly Indian woman who mourns about her lifelong friend and loss of the Indian community which she used to live in. We see how Akka was married at the young age of 18, the politics and Indian citizen’s view regarding India and Britain's rule over it, the passion and sort of patriotism the protagonist and Akka had. It gave a much different perspective of what it was like being a teenager. Although it was fiction, it seems like Latha was influenced by many cultural references and possibly past experiences. The exposure to these sort of stories allow for more understanding between different cultures. It is a necessity for us to normalise these differences, as it will become a stepping stone to complete cultural diversity and inter-connectivity.
A poem I had recently came in contact with was by a Singaporean lady called Pooja Nansi. Her poem, Listening to Mukesh, describes her thought process while listening to an old classic Hindi song while driving. It makes her reminisce about her previous lifestyle and community, and compare it to her current life in Singapore. She then writes a truly beautiful statement:
Tell me where I should go
in a world filled with indifference.
The moonlight filters into my house,
but I do not belong,
neither can I think of a destination.
The poem allows for us to grasp the struggles Singaporeans may have when immigrating from another country. It also puts into perspective of our lifestyle and culture compared to theirs, we do not have to accustom our taste to Hainanese Chilli Paste and Hokkien curse words, we have no idea what it could be like. Living in a country where so many different cultures and languages mix together must have differences to ours. This poem highlights that in a engaging way and even makes me reminisce about Malaysia and its food. Oh how much I miss some good old classic Hainanese Chicken Rice… Roti Canai and Nasi Lemak too…
A big difference between Eurocentric countries and other countries, is how one is censored to different cultures, while the other is unintentionally normalising a foreign one. The key towards censorship in European centred countries lie within the literature people, especially at young ages, absorb. We always hear about how the pale, blonde hair princess is stuck in the castle, guarded by a fearsome witch with sickly white skin, warts covering her nose, and curly black hair. The princess awaits for her perfect white knight in shining armour to come save her and live happily every after. Even people from Africa and Asia are familiar of these stories. However, we never hear about the princess with long black hair, warm chocolate skin, entrancing hazel eyes and a gorgeous golden saree, waiting for her knight in shining armour. We need to acknowledge that to increase inter-connectivity, intercultural understanding and diversity, we must spread knowledge of different cultures. What better way to do so than influencing the literature little kids read; we should have different fables and fairy tales from all over the world. Whether it be the Princess and The Pea, The Adventures of Sun Wu Kong or How the Tortoise got its Scars, these stories allow for multiculturalism to flourish.
After all I have said, one major thing still has not been discussed: How on earth would an adult, let alone a child, be able to read stories from other countries when different countries speak different languages? Luckily enough, we do live in an age where translators and international connections exist. However, there is a huge issue when it come to translating. Particularly in texts which try to convey themes, idea and meanings through systems like metaphors, similes and other literary devices, there is a lot of difficulty with accurately translating messages. Many cultural references are made within texts, which help with the understanding of messages, but when translating these references, words and messages, interpretations can easily change. An article written by Mark Polizzotti explains this extremely well. Polizzotti’s statement of how “translation is more than data transmission” is extremely relevant. It is eminent that Artificial Intelligence will soon take over translation, as even now, I use google translate to translate small phrases from my Japanese workbooks. However, true translation is not just changing words to another language, it is translating both the words and the deep meanings and concepts of those words. A personal experience I have had when was whenever I had gone on holidays with my family, and was required to “write about the trip” for school, although it was me who was translating the events and words that that family spoke, there was always something lacking, as if the events which I enjoyed with my family did not translate properly onto the paper; as if the experiences I witnessed were tied into the culture that I have when I am with my family, which could not be easily replicated through foreign words.
At the end of the day, why is world literature so important? Simply put, it is a medium which allows people from all over the world to experience and have a little a taste of what it would like to be living either in the cold winter of Russia, or the burning evenings of Egypt. It promotes this sense of inter-connectivity, intercultural understanding and other cultures. Very simply put, it teaches us more about the world.
Biography:
FairyTalez. 2020. Chinese Folk Tales | Fairytalez.Com. [online] Available at: <https://fairytalez.com/region/chinese/> [Accessed 7 September 2020].
Fairy Tales Of The World. 2020. How The Tortoise Got Its Scars — Fairy Tales Of The World. [online] Available at: <http://fairytalesoftheworld.com/quick-reads/how-the-tortoise-got-its-scars/> [Accessed 7 September 2020].
Aeon. 2020. Is The Translator A Servant Of The Text Or An Original Artist? — Mark Polizzotti | Aeon Essays. [online] Available at: <https://aeon.co/essays/is-the-translator-a-servant-of-the-text-or-an-original-artist> [Accessed 7 September 2020].
Words Without Borders. 2020. There Was A Bridge In Tekka. [online] Available at: <https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/october-2016-multilingual-singapore-there-was-a-bridge-in-tekka-latha> [Accessed 7 September 2020].
poetry.sg. 2020. Pooja Nansi / “Listening To Mukesh” — Poetry.Sg. [online] Available at: <http://www.poetry.sg/pooja-nansi-listening-to-mukesh> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
Levine, C. and Kessler, S., 2020. For World Literature | Public Books. [online] Public Books. Available at: <https://www.publicbooks.org/for-world-literature/> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
