Seidensticker's Counterfeiting, and Dark vs Light

    Seidensticker offers yet another dialogue on the mechanics and inherent thematic difficulties of translation. Inside it, there's another metaphor for translation: this time, the translator is a counterfeiter, trying to imitate the original currency for distribution alongside the genuine. Maybe this metaphor is especially apt for Seidensticker, since, like currency users might bemoan counterfeits floating among genuine bills, he seems plagued by Japanese people unsatisfied with his translation. The way he frames their reception, it appears, in some senses, less that those critics would prefer a better translation and more that they would prefer none at all, which is more in the spirit of a counterfeit. Still, confident in his work, he defends his first sentence from Snow Country with matter-of-fact self-assurance. Regardless, I found it pretty funny that a significant portion of Seidensticker's lecture focused on his grievances with Japanese critics of his work.

    One interesting tidbit that was new to me from this lecture was the distribution of "dark" and "light" within Japanese writing, and the division between pure Japanese and Sino-Japanese styles, which feel rather closely related to me. I don't know if I have any idea about how I want to treat works written more in one style or another, or even if I'm familiar enough with the language and wider body of Japanese literature to differentiate between the styles accurately, but it's a quality I'll try to watch out for as I continue to learn translation.

    I also wanted to give a little shoutout to Nagai Kafū, since Seidensticker mentions him. Although I'm not terribly well acquainted with the ranks of prominent modern Japanese writers, I think I can agree with Seidensticker's appraisal. Nagai might not be the best writer, but I very much enjoyed the little of him I was assigned for BU's Tokyo class. And, as might already be obvious from the fact that we continue to read his work to study Tokyo, Nagai's stories gave me a beautifully crafted image of late Meiji Tokyo.

winter