The Japanese translations of Russian literature: Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Gogol.
Journal Title: Вісник Університету імені Альфреда Нобеля. Серія "Філологічні науки" - Year 2018, Vol 2, Issue 16
Abstract
This paper focuses on three Japanese translations of Russian literary works of Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Gogol, and examines the characteristics and issues concerning each piece. The new translation of Dostoevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, translated by Ikuo Kameyama, puts readability above all else. Foreignization, taking the Lawrence Venuti term, has been commonly adopted as a translation strategy in Japan. However in Kameyama’s new translation one can arguably say the method used is that of domestication. Contrary to this, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky took a foreignization approach in their new English translation of Dostoevsky’s works, despite the fact that Constance Garnett, the most renowned translator of Russian literature into English originally employed the domestication approach. This shows that Japanese translations of Russian literature are exhibiting a shift in the opposite direction to English translations. The Japanese translation of Turgenev’s short novel, First Love, translated by Kyoko Numano, is distinctive in its use of the ‘desu/masu’ form instead of ‘da/de-aru’, which is usually adopted in Japanese novels. Put briefly, these are two different forms used to end sentences: the former is used in honorific spoken language and the latter in written language. Previously, Japanese was in “diglossia”; in other words, there was a large gap between the more classical literary style and the colloquial style. In the Meiji period, however, FUTABATEI Shimei made an attempt at unifying the two language forms by employing a colloquial style in his novel Ukigumo, and again in his translation of Turgenev’s short story, Meeting. The Japanese translation of Gogol’s short story, The Overcoat, translated by Masaharu Ura clearly imitates rakugo in its style. Prior to this, Taku Egawa, after reading the article ‘How Gogol’s “Overcoat” is Made’ by Russian formalist Boris Eikhenbaum, found that Gogol’s style exhibited aspects common to rakugo, and made attempts at translation using the unique style. Ura then took over the inclination, and in doing so was able to skillfully draw out Gogol’s distinctive narrative. Although the storytelling of rakugo sounds archaic today, Ezra Pound once intentionally translated Italian poems into English using an archaic style. This suggests that it is possible for archaic, peripheral translations to, on the contrary, be viewed as new and creative in form.
Authors and Affiliations
K. Numano
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP491203
- DOI 10.32342/2523-4463-2018-2-16-8
- Views 136
- Downloads 0
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