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- Convenor:
-
Machiko Midorikawa
(Waseda University)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Yoshitaka Yamamoto
(National Institute of Japanese Literature)
- Stream:
- Pre-modern Literature
- Location:
- Torre B, Piso 2, Sala T7
- Sessions:
- Friday 1 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
How can literary classics be made relevant and accessible to a broader audience without making unacceptable compromises? We look at the potential as well as the shortcomings of different pedagogical and scholarly approaches to popularization.
Long Abstract:
How literary classics can be made relevant and accessible to a broader audience without making unacceptable compromises is as much a concern today as it has been in the past. Take the example of Genji monogatari, which has become more widely read thanks in part to the large number of translations produced by famous Japanese writers, who added to their reputation by associating themselves with a work of high cultural capital. Such translations sell well and read well, but have failings when judged from a strictly scholarly perspective. One possible response is for an academic to produce a translation like one now in progress, Nakano Kōichi's Seiyaku Genji monogatari (2015-). Obviously, any such effort of popularization involves some compromises, but as scholars we all face the question of how best to attract the interest of non-specialists in premodern literature.
This panel will look at three specific case studies of popularization and pedagogy. Yoshitaka Yamamoto will analyse the mixed reaction of Edo-period Sinologists to the boom in kanshibun, the reading and composition of Chinese prose and poetry. He examines the arguments made against popularization, which ultimately helped accelerate rather than halt the spread of kanshibun among amateurs. Machiko Midorikawa will discuss the feasibility of producing a detailed English-language commentary for Genji monogatari, like those that exist in English for classics of the European tradition. Judit Árokay will demonstrate a new way of familiarising students with utamakura and meisho (poetic and famous places), a key aspect of classical literature, by use of a cartographical application, "Digital Literary Maps".
For centuries, commentaries and handbooks have aided new readers to understand literary classics. What is the role of written commentaries, handbooks, and digital applications in the twenty-first century? What are their aims and limitations? These are some of the questions raised in our papers, which look at the potential as well as the shortcomings of different pedagogical and scholarly approaches to popularization.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 1 September, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
This paper will discuss the possibility of producing a detailed Genji commentary in English, from the choice of headings to focus, level of detail, intended readership, and method of distribution. Examples will be taken from a single chapter in the tale.
Paper long abstract:
A new English translation of Genji monogatari was published by Dennis Washburn in the summer of 2015. In his introduction, Washburn explains that he added explanations wherever necessary, either as footnotes or in the body of the text itself. In fact, however, such information tends to be incorporated in the text rather than in footnotes. This not only makes the translation less smooth to read at times, but also blurs the important distinction between translation and explanation/analysis. With a text like Genji monogatari, there is a physical limit to how much information can be included on the same page. Recent translations of shorter classical Japanese works have featured facing-page commentaries, but this would be impractical for a text of this length. Therefore, a separate commentary may be the answer. This paper will discuss the possibility of a detailed Genji commentary in English, like those that have existed for years for the Bible and European classics. To begin with, one needs to decide the choice of headings to be discussed: what words, names, ideas, customs, or literary features, for example. Like earlier English-language translators, Royall Tyler struggled with the problem of what items to gloss and at what length. Certain entries had to be omitted during the final editing process. This paper will begin by looking at cases like this from Tyler's early drafts. It will then consider the larger questions to be faced when embarking on the proposed commentary. Should the commentary focus on contemporary readings of Genji or should it be broader in scope, encompassing important ideas from the long history of Genji-gaku? How much detail should entries include? What sort of readers should it aim for? How should the commentary be made available? This paper will focus on a single chapter of Genji monogatari, illustrating the potential value of such a commentary.
Paper short abstract:
This paper will examine how Sinological scholars in Edo-period Japan at times warned against unfettered popularization of kanshibun (prose and poetry in classical Chinese), and what influence their arguments had on the ongoing popularization and standardization of Chinese literary classics in Japan.
Paper long abstract:
The Edo period saw an unprecedented surge in the popularization of kanshibun (classical Chinese prose and poetry) across Japan, in tandem with the growth of commercial publishing and wider availability of anthologies and instructional manuals. Due to high demand for intellectual pastimes, the number of readers and writers of kanshibun, including many amateurs, continued to rise throughout the mid to late Edo period. Sinological scholars vigorously worked to share their expertise in classical Chinese with their contemporaries. However, popularization was at times associated with degradation, particularly in matters concerning high culture. There was a fine line between enlightenment and cultural deterioration. That is why some Sinological scholars in 18th and 19th-century Japan expressed their concerns about the ongoing popularization of kanshibun. They believed that reading and composing kanshibun should remain a highly refined and sophisticated activity, and popularizing it without proper direction would eventually bring down the standards of literary taste and expression. This paper will consider the main arguments that were made against the popularization of kanshibun in the writings of mid to late Edo-period Sinological scholars such as Muro Kyusō (1658-1734), Ogyū Sorai (1666-1728), Minagawa Kien (1735-1807), Yamamoto Hokuzan (1752-1812), Kashida Hokugan (1757-1794), and Hirose Tansō (1782-1856), and examine what influences they had on the subsequent processes of popularization. Interestingly, their critical opinions ultimately helped accelerate, rather than halt, the spread of kanshibun by elevating standards, setting new trends in compositional style, and attracting new enthusiasts. After all, these scholars spoke out against not so much popularization per se as its potentially negative side effects. Classical literature, by definition, is difficult to master for a lay audience. The skepticism and reluctance with which some Edo-period Sinological classicists viewed and approached the popularization of their craft may have interesting implications for classical literary studies today.
Paper short abstract:
This paper will demonstrate a new way of familiarizing students with utamakura and meisho (poetic and famous places), a key aspect of classical literature, by use of a cartographical application, "Digital Literary Maps".
Paper long abstract:
Utamakura and meisho (poetic and famous places) belong to the most important poetic means not only of Japanese poetry but of pre-modern literature, in general. They serve as poetic markers with conventional connotations pinning them down in geographical space and, at the same time, evoking series of poems and texts that have contributed to creating a special atmosphere around these spots. As intertextual elements they are pervasive in pre-modern literature and they have become part of the pictorial tradition, as well, as they are often found in different genres of Japanese painting. Familiarity with these place names and their poetic meaning is to a certain degree a prerequisite for understanding Japanese classical literature and culture, but still, the teaching of utamakura / meisho is often neglected in literature classes. But how to attract the interest of students for these tiny and yet so important elements of literary history?
This presentation is going to introduce a digital application developed at Heidelberg University to visualize famous poetic spots on digital maps combining them with the relevant historical, literary, cultural information available about them. By backing up cartographic representation with information gained from poems and narratives, with contemporary or at least historic pictorial representations, and with old maps (as another kind of pictorial visualizing of space and geographical spots), a vivid picture of utamakura / meisho arises which may trigger the interest of students and non-specialists alike. Although literary tourism is to a certain degree popular in Japan, as one might infer from the mass of books being published on literary travel routes (the type of: Man'yōshū / Genji monogatari / Hyakunin isshu wo aruku), the potential of familiarizing students with literary history via utamakura / meisho is still to be explored.