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Seminar

Methods of East Asian Classical Studies, 56th Seminar
A Platform for Rising Scholars (Session 23)

Date
Sunday, July 7th, 2019, 2:30 pm
Venue
Kyōto University, Yoshida-South Campus, Academic Center Building, North Wing, Seminar Room 4117

Basic Information

Summary

Title: The Translation and Influence of Dream of the Red Chamber in Japan
Lecturer: Song Dan (Associate Professor, Hunan University)
Language: Mandarin

Host

Development of the Next Generation of East Asian Classical Studies through International Collaboration—From the Perspective of the Frontier of the Realm of Chinese Characters

Reports

 On that day, we invited Professor Song Dan of Hunan University to give a lecture entitled, “Translation and Impact of Dream of the Red Chamber in Japan.”
 
 Professor Song first took up the circumstances of Dream of the Red Chamber’s circulation in Japan and argued that the first Japanese translation was born in the Meiji period. She introduced how Japanese people have been ceaselessly translating Dream of the Red Chamber from the Taishō to the Heisei period. Next, she pointed out that although translators were primarily kangaku scholars, authors, ethnic Chinese scholars living in Japan, amateurs, among them even examples where an English version of Dream of the Red Chamber was translated into Japanese, the mainstream was still kangaku scholars. Then, she presented items such as the years of publication for Japanese translations of Dream of the Red Chamber from the Meiji through the Heisei periods, the translators’ names, their occupations, whether it was a complete or partial translation, the translated title, the publication magazine and other publishing conditions, and analyzed the reasons why Dream of the Red Chamber was translated. The main reasons she stated were: 1. Dream of the Red Chamber has established itself as one of the four major novels in China, 2. There was a tradition in Japan of researching literature written in vernacular Chinese, 3. The world view presented in Dream of the Red Chamber was compatible with Japan’s traditional aesthetic philosophy, 4. There were many Japanese fans of Dream of the Red Chamber, and 5. There was great support from publishers. In addition, Professor Song discussed the mutual influence Dream of the Red Chamber and the Japanese translation had on each other, its influence on modern and contemporary literature in Japan, and its influence and relation to translations in other languages. Lastly, she addressed the topic of its similarities to the Tale of Genji and analyzed the original Japanese translation of Dream of the Red Chamber. She then said that in the future she would like to compare translations of Dream of the Red Chamber in different languages.
 
 Afterwards, we entered an open discussion, and there were conversations about things such as methods of studying comparative literature, the current state of research on today’s topic, why Dream of the Red Chamber did not become mainstream among China’s four major novels in Japan, and the purpose of Iwanami shoten’s publication of a collection of written Chinese vernacular literature. Dream of the Red Chamber is a novel that is deeply familiar to Chinese people, and it seemed there was a great response from students and faculty in not only the humanities, but also the sciences that day. We would like to express thanks to Professor Song for giving the lecture, and all the teachers and graduate students who inspired discussion.
 
(Wang Yiran, PhD Student, Kyoto University)

About the Platform for Rising Scholars

 The Platform for Rising Scholars was started in 2016 as part of the Creation of a Next-Generation Hub for East Asian Classical Studies: Accelerating Research and Education through International Collaboration (headed by Saitō Mareshi), with hopes of providing young researchers with an opportunity to share their research and communicate with one another. This platform encourages promising researchers, including graduate students, post-doctors, assistant professors, and lecturers, to present their research outside of their home institutions. Commentators are likewise selected from among young researchers for the purpose of promoting inter-institutional communication.