बिलोरी जर्नलच्या तिसऱ्या अंकात फक्त तीनच लेख आहेत. आम्ही नेहमीप्रमाणे पाच लेखांची तयारी केली असूनही अखेर तीनच लेख अंकात पोहोचले. ह्याचे कारण म्हणजे बिलोरी जर्नलचे उद्दिष्ट पूर्ण करण्याचा आमचा प्रामाणिक प्रयत्न.
वाचकांच्या हातात अंक देण्याआधी काही महिने बिलोरीची टीम त्यावर काम करत असते. आलेल्या प्रत्येक लेखावर चर्चा, संवाद आणि विचारमंथन केलं जातं . त्यादरम्यान आम्हाला लेखक-समीक्षकांनी पाठवलेले अनेक अंतर्मुख करणारे आणि विचारप्रवण लेख वाचायला मिळतात. बिलोरी च्या उद्दिष्टांमध्ये चपखल बसण्यासाठी हे लेखक पुनर्लेखन करून आम्हाला लेखांच्या किमान २ ते ३ आवृत्त्या पाठवतात. पण तरीही क्वचित एखाद-दुसरा लेख बिलोरीसाठी अपुरा वाटतो आणि त्याचा नाईलाजाने निरोप घ्यावा लागतो.
ह्या सगळ्या प्रक्रिये मध्ये पुन्हा एकदा अधोरेखित होते ते बिलोरीच्या लेखकांचे आणि टीमचे साहित्याप्रतीचे प्रेम. हे प्रेम उत्कट आहे पण समीक्षापूर्ण आहे. ह्या प्रेमात निष्ठा आहे ती साहित्यिक संशोधनाच्या विश्लेषणात्मक ताकदीप्रती. हे प्रेम बिलोरीच्या प्रत्येक टीम मेंबरला जगाला सामोरं जाण्याची प्रेरणा देतं. आणि या अशा समीक्षापूर्ण, विश्लेषणात्मक साहित्यप्रेमातून घडतो तीन-पाच उज्वल लेखांचा अंक.
तुम्हीही ह्या अंकाला तुमचे असेच समीक्षापूर्ण प्रेम द्याल अशी आमची आशा आहे.
किमया कुळकर्णी
मुख्य संपादक, बिलोरी जर्नल
Unbelievably, more than a year has passed since the publication of the first issue of Bilori Journal. For me, as for so many, the passage of time has become increasingly hard to measure since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Often, it feels like I am perpetually frozen in time, while simultaneously unable to freeze an incessantly ticking clock. And yet, time with the Bilori team is easy to measure. It is reading, sharing, laughing, sipping cups of tea, talking about the world of literature and the world at large. My hope for all of our readers is that Issue 3 of Bilori Journal can be as nourishing for you as our meetings were for me.
As a form of nourishment, Issue 3 offers the much-needed theme of hope despite hardships. In Oliver Neff’s essay “The Enduring American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun”, Neff’s study of Lorraine Hansberry’s enduring play reminds us that “the American Dream might have to change shape for people as they handle the twists and turns of life, but with adaptation and community, the core of the American Dream…can exist for generations”. Equally sanguine is Sneha Bhagwat’s essay “Surviving Pulserat: Exploring Women’s Oppression and Agency Through Leesa Gazi’s Hellfire” in which Bhagwat affirms that “it is possible to survive pulserat – the hellfire of a patriarchal society – just so long as we do not let it rob us of what goes on in our head”. Finally, in our interview with Shanta Gokhale, the esteemed translator reminds us that there is hope even in the act of translation. She believes that “the role of the translator continues to be what it always was – to make available to readers of any given language the best literature produced in other languages of the world, thereby opening doors to other ways of seeing and being, leading…to greater intercultural understanding”. While reading and copy-editing for this issue, I have had the privilege of living among the optimism in these essays and interviews, which has again allowed me to count time in stolen joyful moments.
It is apt that we are publishing Issue 3 during the depths of winter for me (in Massachusetts, USA) when I am always eagerly waiting for the first sprouts of green new plants to peak through the frozen ground. Although those first spring buds are yet to appear, this issue of Bilori Journal will serve for me as the happy symbol of a new season on the horizon.
Anna Jurek
Research and Copy Editor, Bilori Journal
There is a Chinese curse that loosely translates as, ‘May you live in interesting times’. One has to believe we are living under some variation of this curse with the given state of affairs. Today we are witnessing a resurgence of extremist and fascist ideologies, alarmingly increasing polarization, and alienation at an unprecedented level. Yet, the real absurdity lies in the fact that we still have to go to work, cook meals, do laundry and pay bills. The everyday affairs remain recklessly unchanged and passive. Bilori journal, for me, was an attempt to escape the feeling of passivity. With its focus on translation with an aim to make marginalized literature more visible, Bilori Journal opens up space for dialogue with voices that are often overlooked. I believe that conversations and dialogues are imperative to bridge growing divisions in society.
In this issue, we have interviewed the brilliant translator Shanta Gokhale, who gives her valuable insight on the purpose of translation and the variations involved in translating different kinds of literature. In the interview, she says that people still read and the widely held assumption that people no longer read is invalid. This thought gives me hope. There are those who hold a love for reading; for these very people, we wish to make marginalized literature visible in whatever we can.
Oliver Neff writes on Lorraine Hansberry’s exceptional play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ where he explores how one African American family tries to redefine the idea of the American Dream by negotiating the tenets of individualism. In her essay about Leesa Gazi’s book ‘Hellfire,’ Sneha Bhagwat beautifully explores the nuanced nature of a woman’s agency in a patriarchal society.
We bring you Issue 3 of Bilori journal, created with hope and love as we continue to focus on lesser-known literature and emphasize the nuances of the process of translation.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Saee Pawar
Associate Editor, Bilori Journal
