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翻訳家・柴田元幸の魅力
米文学翻訳の方向性に大きな影響を与えてきた柴田元幸の魅力を、一冊の本が明らかにする…。
It's better if I'm not there
A fascinating book about a remarkable person was published by Shinshokan in July. In "The Other America of Haruki Murakami and Motoyuki Shibata," author Masashi Miura describes and analyzes the relationship between Japan's most popular novelist and Japan's most influential translator.
Murakami and Shibata have been friends for two decades. Their relationship has forged a compelling style of translation, afforded a number of American authors a wide readership in this country, and brought many young Japanese writers under their sway.
In both the West and Japan a bizarre prejudice has haunted the halls of publishing houses: those who can, write; those who can't, translate. Were that true, we would be obliged to rethink the reputations of many authors, including Samuel Beckett and Vladimir Nabokov. In fact, in most countries the translator has been virtually as important as the writer in the formation of a national culture. This is certainly true of Japan from the Meiji period to the present.
This study of Shibata's work demonstrates the power of the translator to affect the course of a country's culture. Shibata has personally chosen to translate works of a number of contemporary American authors from Paul Auster to Rebecca Brown; from Charles Bukowski to Steve Erickson; and from Steven Millhauser all the way to Edward Gorey.
Shibata does not rely on anyone's instincts but his own: he chooses the authors that capture his fancy and imagination and goes on from there, creating a market for them in Japan where, in some cases, there would not have been one otherwise. Such is the wonderful power of an insightful and gifted translator.
Miura's book offers us a first-time glimpse into Shibata's personal life, elucidating his predilections and aspirations. We come away with a deep understanding of the translator and how - or why - he practices his art. I like the intimate mixture in this book of the details of a personal life with the aesthetics of literature and translation.
We follow Shibata from his childhood in the urban-industrial zone of Tokyo's Nakarokugo to Tokyo University. We witness him spending nights in London parks and hitchhiking in England, India and Kyushu. And we learn a great deal about contemporary American literature and what it purports to portray in American life.
Shibata is quoted in this book on his own role as a translator, saying, "It's better if I'm not there." But it is precisely because his voice is there that the translations whisper and speak and sing.
Shibata met Murakami upon his return from a stint at Yale University. The two clicked. Perhaps the decline in Japan of European literature's popularity, and of literature in general, opened up a window onto the landscape of contemporary culture for the two of them. They saw eye to eye on the kinds of messages that young Japanese readers were about to crave. Both the novelist and the translator anticipated our present era and, as such, have had a dominant hand in its formation.
Shukan ST: Aug. 22, 2003
(C) All rights reserved
- fascinating
- 魅力あふれる
- remarkable
- 注目すべき
- "The Other America of Haruki Murakami and Motoyuki Shibata"
- 「村上春樹と柴田元幸のもうひとつのアメリカ」(新書館刊)
- author
- 著者
- Masashi Miura
- 三浦雅士
- analyzes
- 分析する
- influential
- 影響力の大きい
- two decades
- 20年
- has forged
- 作り上げた
- compelling
- 注目せざるを得ない
- (has)afforded a number of American authors 〜
- 大勢の米作家に〜をもたらした
- (has)brought 〜 under their sway
- 多くの〜に米作家の影響を与えた
- bizarre prejudice
- 奇妙な偏見
- has haunted the halls of publishing houses
- 出版社に取り付いている
- those who can, write; those who can't, translate
- 本を書ける人は著者になり、書けない人が訳者になる
- Were that true, we would be obliged to rethink 〜
- それが本当なら〜を考え直さざるを得ないだろう
- reputations
- 名声
- in the formation of 〜
- 〜を形作っていく上で
- (is)true of 〜
- 〜に当てはまる
- demonstrates
- 実証する
- affect
- 影響を与える
- contemporary
- 現代の
- does not rely on anyone's instincts but his own
- 自分の直感だけに頼った
- capture his fancy and imagination
- 自分の気分や想像力を魅了する
- insightful
- 洞察力に満ちた
- gifted
- 才能ある
- glimpse
- 垣間見ること
- elucidating
- 解明して
- predilections
- 好み
- aspirations
- 野心
- practices his art
- 翻訳する
- intimate
- 密度の濃い
- aesthetics
- 美学
- witness
- 目の当たりにする
- purports to portray
- 描こうとする
- is quoted
- 言葉を引用されている
- it is precisely because 〜
- まさに〜だからだ
- stint
- 仕事
- clicked
- 意気投合した
- saw eye
- 意見が一致した
- were about to crave
- その後、求めることになる
- anticipated
- 予想した
- era
- 時代
- as such
- 従って
- have had a dominant hand in its formation
- 今の時代の形成に支配的な影響を与えてきたのだ