Word for word

YOU are throwing away your career! The young man was warned, when he announced his decision to do post graduate work in the University of Ghana. His Ph.D. thesis was a comparison between the fiction in English of the then little known novelists in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Undaunted, he continued to examine how English was used outside England, with books on Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan.

Growing up in a house full of memorabilia from Asia (his grandmother had spent her married life in Burma and father had vacationed in Ootacamund), it was natural for the boy from Edinburgh to become curious about cultures other than the Anglo Saxon. But in the 1960s, any interest in Asian or African writing in English was seen as quaint and outlandish.

The persistent scholar was ahead of his times. Soon, his little sidestream swelled into the mainstream of English literary pursuits. From lecturer in the universities of Leeds and Stirling, he became the Director General of the African Centre in London, the Director of Literature, Arts Council of Great Britain, judge of the Booker Prize (1994), Chairman, Advisory Committee of the Commonwealth Prize (1997), Chairman, Southern African Book Development and Education Trust. Since 1997, Dr. Alastair Niven has been the Director of Literature, the British Council, U.K..

In this interview Dr. Niven talks to GOWRI RAMNARAYAN about his work at the British Council in promoting English literature written in nations around the world.

Gowri Ramnarayan: The British Council (BC) has shifted from promoting literature written in England to literature written in English. When did this happen and why?

Alastair Niven: The promotion of English writing in other nations has always been on our agenda. This has become more prominent in the last four to five years. I would like to link this development with translation, to emphasise that wherever the BC operates, it relates English to the local languages. Remember, even in countries where English is the spoken language, there are always minority tongues.

Do your strategies vary from country to country?

We have some key objectives but we do not sit in London and say we know what is best for the world. We respond to the needs of the region. In eastern Europe we emphasise the knowledge of democracy and governance. British studies are important in Indonesia. In some places we promote sport, particularly British football. In Africa where distribution is a major problem, we try to assist local publishers as at the annual Zimbabwe Book Fair.

What is the Council doing for the long neglected Scottish, Welsh and Irish literatures?

Extensive constitutional changes have taken place in Britain. The Scottish Parliament was established last year, the first since 1707, and the first Welsh Assembly since the 13th Century. Northern Ireland has a new constituent Assembly in closer partnership with the Republic of Ireland than ever before. England has seen radical changes in the House of Lords. The question is, have these changes been directed by - or do they reflect - cultural activities?

Whatever the answer, there is obviously a huge renewal of energy in Scottish, Welsh and Irish poetry, fiction and drama. In England the change is slightly different. It comes from the people of immigrant descent like Salman Rushdie, Ben Okree, Kazuo Ishiguro, Grace Nicholls, all of whom are not seen as anything exotic, but simply as part of English literature. The oral traditions of Africa are a powerful influence now.

The "If-I-wear-a-saree-I'll-bag-the-Booker!" cry is not just a joke, is it?

No. There is a feeling that critics are in the grip of fashion in overpraising writers with exotic backgrounds and marginalising mainstream English writers. But some of those very writers are altered by the changing perceptions. Jim Crace looks at pre- civilisational existence, and Margaret Drabble became more politically interested and set one of her novels in Cambodia. Hardly mainstream, that ... Actually, Britain has never had a monoglot, monolingual culture. A single culture did dominate in the last 300 years, but now we are seeing it break up.

Are there readers in Britain for translations from the Indian languages?

We have the lowest percentage (three per cent) of translated books sold in Britain than in any European country. When I was at the Arts Council, there was an attempt to set up an Asian Writers series. Some 10 Indian novels got published, with adequate - not brilliant - sales.

Can you identify similarities at all in the writers of the Commonwealth nations? In fact, is not this an obsolete notion today?

True, you will not catch anyone describing himself as a Commonwealth writer. Way back in the 1980's, Rushdie said there is no such thing as Commonwealth literature. But certain themes like trying to establish a national identity did recur in nations across the world, with parallel experiences in handling the English language.

I do not think the idea of Commonwealth nations is at all outdated. Countries like Mozambique and the Cameroons have joined in recent years. The first thing that Nelson Mandela did when he came to power was to ensure South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth. I like the term Commonwealth literature because it implies the common resources shared by countries using English. It is one way of getting people to read other literatures, make cross cultural connections. I also like the way it reminds me of the first Commonwealth, established by Oliver Cromwell, which had radical associations.

Do you think our age has seen the novel pushing poetry and drama to the periphery?

Not quite. Poetry readings are well attended. Derek Walcott and Seamus Heaney have a huge following, a popular poet like Pam Ayres can read her verse and fill any theatre. And do you know that people write more poetry than they do fiction? Research showed that almost everyone in Britain writes poetry at some time or the other. Drama is not read much outside the classroom. But in London, one or two pound editions of play texts are sold at the theatres. Somebody must be buying them.

What are your major concerns in your work at the BC?

In the 110 countries where the Council operates, I want people to know that we have young, new, interesting writers. We are trying to highlight certain themes in British writing, especially the Celtic dimension. I also want to emphasise translation as a major literary activity. We have a whole website on literary translation. I want to encourage an interchange of literary languages. I do not want English to be seen as a dominating language uninterested in other languages. I am trying to see that in all parts of the world, people get the chance to discuss their interests with a team of British writers. We have one such seminar every 18 months in India.

What kind of changes do you perceive in Indian writing in English over the years?

Everyone cottons on to the newer generation of writers starting with Rushdie, as though they revolutionised Indian writing. But they have predecessors just as good, in some cases better. I feel rather sad that R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Nirad Chaudhuri, G. V. Dasani and Kamala Markandeya are sidelined today.

But do the new writers have better style and craft?

I think it would be hard to find a more fastidious use of English than in Narayan. Chaudhuri handled the English language magisterially, Anand made an interesting hybrid with his Punjabi phrasing, and Raja Rao's Sanskrit influences brought in a metaphysical dimension. Do not underestimate the older writers.

Do you think Indian writers have had any impact on British writing?

I think they, with other Commonwealth writers, have freed the British writer to experiment more with the language. In 1994, the Booker Prize went to the Scottish writer James Kelman for a novel in a Glasgow dialect. He would have written the novel anyway.

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