Authorship, translation and comparative literature: The rewriting of Don Quixote from the "third space of enunciation"

This paper delves into the intricate relationship between translation, authorship, and comparative literature, and analyzes how the postmodern concept of translation redefines the traditional boundaries of authorship. The case of Vibha Maurya's translation of Don Quixote to Hindi is used as a way to problematize these concepts in the context of postcolonialism, intercultural dialogue, and the theory of the "third space of enunciation," which is the specific socio-political locus of enunciation for Maurya's translation. Vibha Maurya's decision to translate Don Quixote directly from Spanish to Hindi posed a double challenge with literary and political consequences. Not only did she have to deal with a rigid, canonical, Indian academy that had been historically controlled by men, but also she made a point to discard all translations from English, which had traditionally been regarded as the "original" source of all renderings of Don Quixote, questioning the fidelity of previous versions and closing the gap with Spain's Golden Age.