Davena Thenna (The Burning Plain) - A collection of short stories by Juan Rulfo
Translated into Sinhala by Sathyapala Galketiya
A book titled “Davena Thenna”, a translation by veteran writer/translator Sathyapala Galketiya has been published by Graficare of Rajagiriya. The book is a translation into Sinhala of all, except one - Macario, of the short stories in the book titled El Llanoen Llamas by Mexican writer Juan Rulfo published in 1953. The title “Davena Thenna” which is Sinhala for “The Plain that is burning” or “The Plain that is in flames” – is the translation of the title.
The short story “Macario” which is the first story in El Llanoen Llamas has been left out of this collection because its translation was included in the author’s ( i.e., Galketiya’s) previous publication (in 2014) titled “ Ekes Balallu” – meaning “ one-eyed cats”- another translation into Sinhala of a collection of short stories by writers from many countries, including, those by Herman Hesse, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Franz Kafka and Rabindranath Tagore.
“Davena Thenna” is an interesting book for several reasons. Therefore, an introduction to the author of the original El Llanoen Llamas, his works and the translator Sathyapala Galketiya - the author of this book in Sinhala would be useful to the readership.
Let us begin with the original and its author. Juan Rulfo was a Mexican writer, screenwriter and photographer. He is best known as a writer for two works El Llanoen Llamas – a collection of short stories published in 1953 and Pedro Paramo - his only novel - published in 1955. These two works are considered as classics of world literature and Rulfo is considered as a major influence in modern literature as one of the founders of the magic realism. Gabriel García Márquez who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982 is said to consider Pedro Paramo as a major influence on his own work, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967). A tribute to Rulfo’s two works and his photographs also appears in the Nobel Prize Speech given by Jean Marie GustaveLe Clézio (or J.M.G. Le Clézio as he is referred to), the French writer who won the Nobel Prize in 2008.
Rulfo is also famous for his photography and, though different in style his works, especially, landscapes, are said to recall the works of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston - two of the greatest photographers.
Though receiving attention in the years following publication of works Rulfo (1917 – 1986) and other Latin American writers of his generation are supposed to have only really come to the attention of the world following the success of authors such as, Gabriel García Márquez of Colombia, Maria Vargas Llosa of Peru, Julio Cortezar of Argentina and Carlos Fuentes of Mexico. The success of these authors triggered a widespread interest in those authors that had preceded them, such as, Rulfo.
The first real introduction of Juan Rulfo to the targeted readership – those that read translations into Sinhala (which I shall refer to as “the readership” for the rest of this account) - appears to have occurred with the advent of the Pedro Paramo translation. This translation by film director /author, the late Dharmasena Pathiraja, won the state literature award for the best translated novel in 2012.
The readership appears to have got its first taste of Rulfo’s short stories in 2014 with the translation of “Macario” as a part of the collection “Ekes Balallu”. With “Davena Thenna” they get the rest of the collection.
Inquiries seem to indicate that the local readership consisting of those that read translations into Sinhala know more about, or are more familiar with the works of those that Juan Rulfo is supposed to have influenced rather than Rulfo himself or his works. This readership probably read the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in translation before they tasted Juan Rulfo.
Sathyapala Galketiya is a veteran writer and translator. He is also a member of a group of people who some years ago made an unusual contribution to the Sinhala readership.There was a time when the translations of foreign works of literature consisted mainly of the works of Russian writers or those of neighbouring countries. Relative to these translations of works from other countries were few.
Many other foreign writers remained beyond the Sinhala readership because they were not introduced to the readership. On an initiative by the late Vincent Kurumbapitiya this group set about to introduce foreign authors through an introductory lecture and a researched booklet.
Sathyapala Galketiya introduced Herman Hesse in the form of a lecture and a small booklet based on research. Other contributors to this project are said to be Somaratne Balasooriya who introduced Albert Camus, Ariyawansa Ranaweera who introduced Ernest Hemingway, Karunaratne Amerasinghe who introduced D. H. Lawrence and Dr. Sunanda Mahendra who introduced both R.K. Narayan and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Vincent Kurumbapitiya’s death brought this activity to an end.
Sathyapala Galketiya is a meticulous worker, and as such “Davena Thenna” appears to me as painstaking accurate and faithful to the English translation of El Llanoen Llamas.
The stories are set in the context of Mexico in the days of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and the Cristero Wars (1926-1928). The harsh realities of life in those times of violence and poverty are portrayed with such accuracy by Rulfo that it has led to many reviews lavishing praise on the English translation and on the original, consolidating its place in world literature. Galketiya’s translation captures its full flavour though at times it may be a bit difficult to read.
This difficulty arises in my opinion because of his insistence on remaining close to the structure and faithful to the language. Also, occasionally we come across a word which, in my opinion should not have been translated but should have been treated as merely a ‘name’ phonetically. For example “thirty thirty rifle” should not have been translated as “Thiha Thiha Rifle” - this is a reference to the famous .30-30 Winchester rifle that we see in western films.
Apart from these, on the whole, the book appears as an interesting and a valuable addition to the translations into Sinhala that have been made up to now.