Socrates and Satyagraha in South Africa: A Critical Study of M.K. Gandhi’s Translation of Plato’s Apology

Abstract

M.K. Gandhi published a translation of Plato’s Apology in Gujarati as Ek Satyavir ni Katha in his self-edited newspaper Indian Opinion in six instalments. The last instalment was published on 9 May 1908 (CWMG vol.8: 217). This translation played a vital part in Gandhi’s first Satyagraha in South Africa. Gandhi’s translation is ideologically loaded and provides counter-texts that both challenged imperial domination and provided themes and forms for the development of postcolonial debates and new senses of identity. In addition to his politics, Gandhi encounters several issues as a translator, especially with cultural equivalents, translating rhetoric speech and references to Greek culture, society and gods. This paper compares target and source texts and also explores the impact of this translation on the Gujarati community in South Africa and on Gandhi. Keywords: Gandhi, Socrates, Passive Resistance, Translation Studies, Paratext, Refraction.