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No, I'm not going to get into the etymology and history of Easter. But it did remind me of how, when we're translating a particular tradition or ritual that's unique to a culture and rich with its own symbols, it can be tricky to bring across all the textured layers of meaning.
For example, I translated a scene recently where a rich woman makes a high-handed offer of marriage for her favorite son to a poor widow's daughter. This is in pre-Independence rural and conservative India and the widow doesn't have any say, given her class, caste, and circumstances. She accepts the ceremonial piece of jaggery to "sweeten" the deal but she is not able to take it into her mouth. It's an emotionally-wrought moment.
Those who know what this ritual of sweetening the deal means in South Asian cultures (and especially for a mother in this particular situation) will bring, to their reading, various related associations, memories, and meanings. For all other readers, I must find a way to show the full weight of those tiny, wet crumbs of jaggery clinging to the widow's leaden fingers. If this was my fiction, I know what I'd do. But, with another writer's words, I must work within certain possibilities. A good kind of challenge because it allows me to think deeper about language, ritual, fiction, scene, emotion, subtext, and more.
Here are some interesting links:
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