THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: C.V. Raman Pillai provided a glittering model of the renaissance in Malayalam literature. Certain renaissance trends found completion in him, Prof Hridayakumari said on Tuesday, after releasing the first English translation of CV’s 1913 novel `Dharmaraja.’
CV had a deep respect for history. In fact, he was exploring his own history through his historical novels, discovering his ancestors through them, Hridayakumari said addressing the function organised by the C.V.Raman Pillai Foundation to mark the 151st birth anniversary of the master writer.
Lauding former Indian ambassador to Mexico G.S.Iyer for translating `Dharmaraja,’ Hridayakumari said that translating one of the greatest classics in Malayalam into a language that belongs to a different culture group, a language that has a distinct style and flavour is a difficult proposition. ``It’s not like translating the work into Tamil, Hindi or Bengali. Iyer has done a difficult thing.’’
With regards to language, CV’s Malayalam exists on several planes. CV imbibed the sweep, range, forcefulness and orchestration of his language not just from Malayalam, but also from English. His works features highly sanskritised Malayalam to rustic regional dialects, she said.
Iyer, introducing his translation published by Westland, said that `Dharmaraja’ was essentially about good governance, and the conflict of two separate ideas about it.
CV’s grandson Rosscote Krishna Pillai received the first copy of the book.