2 Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature An international peer-reviewed open-access journal [ISSN: 0975-8828] Volume 10 – Number 2 – April 2019 Revisiting the Shifting Paradigms through the Translations of Mahasweta Devi’s Short Stories Dr. Sarmila Paul Assistant Professor Department of English Rani Birla Girls’ College (Affiliated to the University of Calcutta) sarmilapaul15@gmail.com ABSTRACT Mahasweta Devi’s writings have been immensely translated in Indian languages like Assamese, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Telegu and tribal languages like Ho and Santhali along with foreign languages like English, Italian, Japanese and French. The range of her translations is reflective of her wide popularity both within and outside the nation. Compared to other languages translating into English from her original stories in Bangla has always remained fraught with the complexities of colonial history. In the Indian context translation into English always corroborates the hegemonic power equations more than translation into any other language especially in the postcolonial context. For Devi’s texts translation into English is wrought with hegemonic complexities that are not equally traceable in the translations of her stories in other vernaculars. The objective of this article is to critically look into the various dynamics of the author/translator interface that forms the crux of the ‘politics’ interplaying at different levels of the translation process of her stories. KEYWORDS Politicisation; subjective intervention; hegemonic complexities; cultural resistance; counter-narrative. “For me it is much more important that my writings are being translated and published in Indian languages. I have to reach India first” (Devi, Interview) Mahasweta Devi can be truly called a writer with a firm social purpose and one of those few writers who have equally treaded the fictional and non-fictional terrains throughout her life without prioritizing one over the other. Even though she has a considerable amount of non-fictional writing in English to her name, the fictional works are mostly written in Bangla. She preferred documenting her observations about the deprivation, distress and degeneration of a major part of Indian society in Bangla. At the same time, she intended to reach out to the maximum number of Indian readers with her conscientious social crusade for the deep impact that she expected from as many educated Indian readers as possible. With the implicit yearning to prick the conscience of her readers through the chastising spirit wrought in her stories, it was important for her that her stories were made available to the maximum number of other language readers in India. However,