| 22 » Giles Murray | Yorkshire | Date: 24.12.2007 Time: 17:44:16 |
Happy Christmas everybody! 
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| 20 » Brandon Floyd | South Carolina  |
Date: 16.12.2007 Time: 16:44:18 |
I just realized that for some reason I was thinking that the song by Madonna was called "Material World". I'm a fan of both her "Material Girl" and the Police's "We are Spirits in the Material World", so I must have gotten them confused. It's funny that I didn't think at all about the Japanese empire. I think too hard about the questions sometimes and miss the most obvious answers. |
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| 19 » Brandon Floyd | South Carolina |
Date: 15.12.2007 Time: 23:14:12 |
Getting back on topic: PAGE 115: I am entirely with you on the translation of 快適な as “easeful”. This adjective is probably most often translated as “pleasant” or “comfortable”. Of course, in my opinion, those words have far too positive physical connotations in English to be safely employed here; it is clear to me that Reiko knew her death would be violent and that she thought only of her peace of mind. PAGE 143: The Japanese word for which you give “material world” is もの. もの in Japanese refers to concrete things, but you certainly could not simply translate it as “things” in this case, one reason being that “things” in English can also refer to abstract concepts. When I hear the phrase “material world”, I immediately think of the world of positive matter, of hard substance. This, of course, is what, Mishima meant. Thus, the problem is solved without an ambiguous, overly simplistic, and awkward translation. Of course, the frivolous reason is that you are a fan (or possibly a hater) of the eponymous song by Madonna. PAGE 149: I think that the term 巨大な is used here solely relative to Takeyama. That is to say that to Takeyama, Japan is everything. The title of the story, 憂国, reveals the motive for his gruesome suicide—his anxiety for the state his country. Japan is more than just a geo-political entity to him; it is his universe, the ultimate manifestation of his ideals. Indeed, if it had been anything less, I’m sure that nothing could have justified his actions. Reply: Hello Brandon! |
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| 18 » Brandon Floyd | South Carolina |
Date: 15.12.2007 Time: 22:27:42 |
A little over a year before "Exploring Japanese Literature" was published, I purchased two books of short stories by Mishima in the original Japanese. I tried reading "Yuukoku" back then and it really just seemed impossible. I realize now what a tremendous difference it makes to have a mini-dictionary in front of your face at all times. My failure was definitely mostly due to a lack of vocabulary and knowledge of the classical forms. I admit that Mishima is still difficult, but his work seems less like an impenetrable fortress to me now. This reminds of me of an event that happened about a year ago, just as I was starting my last year of college. I had contacted one of my first-year Japanese professors about the possibility of doing an independent study course in translation. My hope was that I would gain some experience reading and translating some serious literature since the focus of the language program there had been on the colloquial language--mainly speaking and listening; the readings were all essentially textbook Japanese. When I got to her office, I found that she had a screening process, and this process, in my case, entailed her handing me a "jou" copy of Soseki's "Wagahai wa neko de aru" and commanding me to read it aloud smoothly and immediately afterwards to translate it into English. Honestly, I thought she was kidding. I opened the book and took a look, but it was instantly clear that there was no way in Hell that I was going to be able to manage it. I remember how incredibly pissed off I was after that meeting. It was unbelievably unreasonable I thought, to expect such of me at that point; I would have had to know all the readings and meanings of the compounds that I encountered and furthermore, I would have had to have knowledge of classical forms, which weren't taught. The fact that I had had some experience reading Soseki in the original before that, made it all the more bitter. I suppose what I'm trying to say, with all my ranting, is that I honestly feel that I'll be able to make the transition to reading Japanese literature unassisted much more smoothly after this book. This brings me to my question: what other of Mishima's short stories would you recommend? I don't want to try any of his novels at the moment ("Kinkakuji" was sometimes abstract and difficult to comprehend even in translation). To Mr. Staley: I'll be looking forward to the next entries in the "Read Real Japanese" series. The notes on usage and nuance were incredibly well done in the original, and it only suffered, in my opinion, for the lack of a mini-dictionary. It will be very nice indeed to have some fiction to go along with the essays this time around. Reply: Brandon |
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| 17 » Michael Staley | Tokyo  |
Date: 14.12.2007 Time: 20:53:20 |
Okay, so here's the scoop on "Read Real Japanese," the book Michael Emmerich is compiling for us: Actually, it's part of a two-book series, "Read Real Japanese Fiction" and "Read Real Japanese Essays." (Michael is writing "Fiction," and Janet Ashby is handling "Essays," which is essentially a revamped version of the original "Read Real Japanese" [1991] with all-new works, including pieces by Murakami Haruki and Yoshimoto Banana). The series will feature works by real, living, contemporary Japanese writers: 6 stories in "Fiction," and 8 pieces in "Essays." The works will be set in vertical text, and read from right to left ("back" to "front") just like in a real Japanese book. They will even be printed on real Japanese tanko-bon paper, so that you get the full experience. There won't be full translations for each work, but all the complex passages wil be explained on the same page, just like in the "Read Real Japanese" that's in print now. There will be a full-fledged Japanese-English dictionary at the back of each volume, containing all the words that appear in the book, and superb notes on usage, nuance, grammar, and so on. Best of all, each book will come with a free audio CD with the included works narrated by a professional Japanese actress and rakugo performer. These books will be a huge improvement on the original "Read Real Japanese" in terms of their layout and design: they will be easy to use, and there will be no romaji. The selection of works, too, is good. These books ought to be available in Japan in late February or early March, and in the US and elsewhere about four months later. Featured writers, besides Murakami and Yoshimoto, include Tawada Yoko, Otsuichi, Machida Kou, Kawakami Hiromi, Kakuta Mitsuyo, Ogawa Yoko, and others. So if you're looking for more books like "Exploring Japanese Literature," be sure to check these ones out. Brandon, thanks for your kind words about my explanations. There already is a "Handbook to Classical Japanese." It's by Timothy Wixted, and I think it's the most accessible of all the classical Japanese textbooks out there, though it does still require concentration and drive to get through. There is also Helen Craig McCullough's "Bungo Manual" if you're really motivated. I studied classical Japanese using this book and a primer for Japanese junior high school students. Michael Reply: Michael, |
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| 15 » Brandon Floyd | South Carolina |
Date: 13.12.2007 Time: 12:48:25 |
No, I have not read Rubin's book. I remember reading the first page of Murakami's essay, 「狭い日本•明るい家庭」, in "Read Real Japanese"; it definitely piqued my interest in the author, but I have not yet read any of his novels. I would also like to thank Mr. Staley for his elucidating post on classical forms. I have not seen them explained so clearly anywhere else before. He should consider writing a "Handbook of Classical Japanese Forms" or something of that nature. I might have some more questions for him in the future. Finally, I would like to know whether you have considered creating a forum similar to this for your first work, "Breaking into Japanese Literature", where we could discuss the works of Soseki and Akutagawa. I kept a reading journal when I was working through that book, in which I recorded difficult sentences. I would like to be able to ask you about some of them, and I would feel somewhat silly posting questions about "Yabu no Naka" "Rashomon" and "Yume Juuya" in a thread about Mishima's "Yuukoku". |
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| 14 » Giles Murray | Thailand Right Now | Date: 11.12.2007 Time: 21:58:13 |
Thanks for that posting, Michael. What about the lowdown on the forthcoming Read Real Japanese Fiction?  I'm curious.
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| 13 » Brandon Floyd | South Carolina |
Date: 10.12.2007 Time: 20:08:03 |
In response to Post 11 concerning translation: Translation is indeed a very tricky business. I remember, when I was a child, I believed that foreign languages were essentially English in different words, i.e. that all words in English had exact counterparts in other languages. I am often amused now when I think back on my ignorance, but sometimes, I admit, I almost wish things were that simple. I find that my method of translation differs greatly depending on whether I am translating from Latin or Japanese. Of course, Latin is an Indo-European language, so, despite all its deep morphological complexity and its substantial differences from English, it still constitutes much more familiar ground than Japanese, a language with virtually no connection to English at all. When I look at a Latin sentence, I can break it up into participles, infinitives, gerunds, relative pronouns, etc; although these elements are highly inflected in Latin, they are all present in English as well. A Latin sentence properly parsed, and translated word for word will indeed often make sense in English, even if the product is unidiomatic. Consider the following lines from Book I of Vergil's Aeneid with the English translation of each word written underneath the Latin: Karthago, Italiam contra Tiberinaque longe Carthage,/ Italy / opposite/ and [from the] Tiber's/ far ostia, dives opum studiisque asperrima belli; mouths,/ rich/ of resources/ and in desires/ fiercest/ of war quam Juno fertur terris magis omnibus unam which/ Juno/ is said/ [than] the lands/ more/ all / one posthabita coluisse Samo... held after/ to have valued/ Samos... If we parse the English and change it up a bit, we get: Carthage, opposite Italy and far from the Tiber's mouths, rich in resources and fiercest in desire(s) for war, which one Juno is said to have valued more than all the earth, Samos [being] esteemed less. Note that, despite some of the changes I made, this is still very literal (and entirely devoid of the music and elegance of the original). However, it represents what for me would be a starting point, and as merely a starting point, it is a very good one. Note well that even the ablative absolute, "posthabita...Samo" can be rendered very closely through the English nominative absolute "Samos [being] esteemed less." It is remarkable really how little I had to change in order to make it work. My Japanese example will be much shorter, as it doesn't require much to prove my point. Consider a sentence from Akutagawa's "Yabu no Naka" diagrammed in the same manner as the Latin above: 場所 は 関山 から 山科 へ 参ろう The place/as for/Sekiyama/ from/ Yamashina/ to/ would go と いう 途中 で ございます。 /that/ say/ midway point/ being/ is(i.e. exists). It is immediately clear that translating from Japanese is, as they say, a whole 'nother ball game. The phrase "Sekiyama kara Yamashina e mairou to iuu tochuu" is especially troublesome, and damn near impossible to render literally in English. The "to iuu" above could even be misleading if translated literally as "[one] says that" or "[they] say that"; in the sentence above "to iuu", as is often the case, functions to complete the relative clause, conferring the qualities of the phrase "Sekiyama kara Yamashina e mairou" onto "tochuu". The literal meaning is still there, but "to iuu" must, in my opinion, be thought of very "loosely," if you will. My experience with Japanese allows me to grasp the meaning of this sentence fairly quickly, but even to gain a starting point for the English translation, I must rethink and rewrite the whole thing. The notion of choosing English-language models for the sake of emulation is interesting to me. I am certainly with you on using Henry V; its elevated and nationalistic tone, and its high praise of military valor are right up Mishima's alley. Indeed, I can almost picture Mishima's Takeyama superimposed on Olivier in his classic film adaptation, yelling his fearless, ecstatic "Once more unto the breach, dear friends" in the middle of the surrounding frenzy of the battlefield. I might also recommend using "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" for ideas. Gawain's sense of honor, and his intense shame on finding that he has violated it, are in some ways parallel to the events in Mishima's story. "Beowulf" might also provide some inspiration. It represents the austerity and ruthlessness of a violent, militaristic age gone by and surely would have had some appeal to Mishima, who seemed to want to turn his own country's clock back five hundred years or so. As far as the romantic scenes are concerned, I would steer clear of pornographic magazines, as I think the writing found within is often puerile at best. Well written romance novels might suffice though. This may seem like a strange choice, but I think Stanley Kubrick's films could offer something in the way of what I perceive to be his coldness towards humanity, which at times borders on misanthropy; I often sense something similar in Mishima's writing. Well, I suppose I've bored you long enough with this epic post, so I'll conclude with the opening line of Henry V, and one of my favorite Shakespearian openings: "O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention." May all we translators and aspiring translators find our own Muse in times of difficulty. Reply: Brandon, |
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