International Conference on the Humanities (ICH)
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Item A study on the dichotomy between translation and adaptation(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) de Silva, J.The dichotomy between translation and adaptation is one of the major classifications of translation methods related to literary translation. Though these two terms stand for two distinguishable methods, their boundaries appear to have blurred to a certain extent and differentiating each method has become a confusing matter. This study is an attempt to make a clear boundary between the two methods, taking into account definitions and standpoints, etymologies of the terms and the manner that literary translation is conducted. There is a common standpoint that translation means converting the source text into a different language without changing its content whereas adaptation means converting the source text into a different language with changes done according to the preference of the translator. Nevertheless, since aesthetic experience is the expected outcome and the translator is expected to produce on his reader an impression similar to that produced by the original, direct translation is not always adequate for literary translation. Thus, it should be noted that a literary translator necessarily deserves the freedom to add, omit and replace certain elements of the source text during the translation process. Therefore, the method identified as ‘translation’ in literary translation has a wide range which expands from direct translation to free translation. However, due to the changes made to the source work, some translations are misinterpreted as adaptations. In this respect, etymology is a helpful factor in a differentiating adaptation from translation. Accordingly, adaptation can be defined as the process of change in which a work of literature finds a way to suit to its target environment. Thus, it should be noted that only the works of literature which are completely modified to fit the target audience, so that it appears to have emerged from that particular background can be identified as adaptations.Item Western Hegemony over Eastern resources: Adaptation of western religious symbols by Greco – Bactrian rulers(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH 2018/2019) , Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Jayasekara, M.Following the death of Alexander that marked a relatively brief period of reign, his vast empire fell into the hands of Macedonian leaders. The lands of the old Achaemenid Empire such as Persia, Choarsmia, Parthia, Aria, Bactria-Sogdinia, Syria and Mesopotamia fell under the power of the Seleucids. Eventually, the establishment of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek kingdom further furnished in retaining the Western power over these Eastern lands. Consequently, these political outbreaks braced the Hellenistic traditions to interweave with oriental cultural traditions. In Classical culture, the use of religious symbols such as Omphalos and Labrys are identified as a measure of indicating the restate of their authority over the conquered territories. Besides, the use of divinities to legitimize the power of new rulers can also be recognized as a method which these people had in practice. Systematic observations on the adaptation of religious symbols by the Western rulers who were on Eastern lands had been done in modern scholarship. Osmund Bopearachchi has examined the choice of iconographies of the monetary issues from Alexander the Great to imperial Kushanas and according to him the ‗Apollo sitting on the Omphalos‘ is a monetary type that had acted as the arm of the entire Seleucid dynasty. According to Kyler Erickson and Nicholas L Right, the Seleucid‘s use of ‗Apollo sitting on the Omphalos‘ was not intended to depict a pure Greek image but a mere expression that the oriental population was under the rule of Greeks. Deviating from the commonly dealt Seleucids and the Indo-Greeks, the purpose of this paper is to identify the objective of adapting western religious symbols in monetary issues by the Greco-Bactrian kings over their oriental population. Due to the meager recordings encountered in the ancient historical texts by Classical historians, information on the Greco-Bactrians is chiefly traced from archaeological and numismatic evidence. Stylistic features, overstrikes, iconography and monograms are taken into consideration in observing the numismatic evidence while taking into account the theories in modern scholarship as well as the existing ancient literary sources