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Paper short abstract:

This paper will address the significance of the commercial aspects of translators in Japanese literary history, by investigating the relationship between translators' prominence and Meiji period publishing practices.

Paper long abstract:

The discussion of literary translators of the Meiji period tends to focus on their approaches to translation in relation to the modernisation of literary culture (e.g. Mizuno 2009, Inoue 2012). The commercial impact of translators’ visibility over the circulation and reception of foreign literature has received less scholarly attention. For example, prominent translators can be used by contemporary publishers as marketing tools (Akashi 2023), and Meiji publishers strove to produce European literature translated by prominent writers who were also translators, whose names guaranteed sales (Akashi 2018, 77). Put another way, translators’ names value played a major part in selecting translations for reading, because the great majority of readers of this period were unfamiliar with foreign authors (Yamada 2012, 31). The paper aims to address the significance of the commercial aspects of translators in Japanese literary history, by investigating the relationship between translators’ prominence and Meiji period publishing practices. The key questions are: how did translators’ fame manifest in the marketing strategies; how did it influenced readers’ perception of the translators and their work; how might findings relate to the publishing practices in evidence in present day Japan.

Focusing on Kuroiwa Ruikō (黒岩涙香, 1862-1920), one of the most prominent Meiji writers/translators of popular literature (Akashi 2018, 79), this paper will investigate how publishers promoted his translations. It will examine the presence of his name on the book covers of his translations in comparison with that of the source authors; identify how Kuroiwa’s prominence was reflected in the book cover designs; and how it relates to the way his works were received by the readers, based on biographical accounts of his professional life (e.g. Itō 1988) and literary critics’ reviews. The aim is to estimate the impact of his fame over the reception of his works.