Publications-Articles

Article View/Open

Publication Export

Google ScholarTM

NCCU Library

Citation Infomation

Related Publications in TAIR

題名 Translating "Jamesian Precisions" in Natsume Sōseki`s Light and Dark
作者 Mewhinney, Matthew
貢獻者 文山評論:文學與文化
關鍵詞 translation ;Natsume Sōseki ;Henry James ;William James ;consciousness ;Japanese narrative ;subjectivity ;realism
日期 2021-12
上傳時間 8-Apr-2022 15:40:46 (UTC+8)
摘要 This article examines how translator John Nathan finds an English idiom for the representation of subjectivity in Natsume Sōseki`s novel Meian 明暗(Light and Dark, 1916). It also examines how Nathan employs translation techniques that make his own subjectivity as a translator visible, if not intrusive, to the reader. I argue that Light and Dark reveals how Nathan`s voice as translator informs, if not commands, Sōseki`s voice as author. In his prefatory remarks to Light and Dark, Nathan explains that he wanted to give his translation "the patina of age" by mirroring in English how the novel might have sounded to Japanese readers in 1916. In order to achieve this aesthetic and historical effect, Nathan creates an English style that attempts to reproduce what he calls "Jamesian precisions," referring to the realism and representation of consciousness in the novels of American writer Henry James (1843-1916). While Nathan claims that there is no basis for asserting that Sōseki consciously emulated James, he attempts to give Sōseki a Jamesian voice in the name of style. To show how he does this I take selections from Nathan`s translation and compare them to V. H. Viglielmo`s 1971 version and the Japanese original. I show that Nathan`s style is often intrusive as it attempts to emulate the kind of diction, prose, and dialogue found in works of Henry James. I also show how Nathan`s style conveys the ideas of James`s older brother, the philosopher and psychologist William James (1842-1910), whose work Sōseki had also read. I conclude by considering "Jamesian precisions" as a narrative style informed by both Henry and William James. Through close examinations of the texts, the article contributes to the understanding of the role of subjectivity in translation in two ways that are intertwined: how the translator represents the narrator occupying the minds of characters in Light and Dark, and how Nathan`s mind takes hold of Sōseki`s in the process of translation.
關聯 文山評論:文學與文化, 15(1), 77-113
資料類型 article
DOI https://doi.org/10.30395/WSR.202112_15(1).0004
dc.contributor 文山評論:文學與文化
dc.creator (作者) Mewhinney, Matthew
dc.date (日期) 2021-12
dc.date.accessioned 8-Apr-2022 15:40:46 (UTC+8)-
dc.date.available 8-Apr-2022 15:40:46 (UTC+8)-
dc.date.issued (上傳時間) 8-Apr-2022 15:40:46 (UTC+8)-
dc.identifier.uri (URI) http://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/handle/140.119/139666-
dc.description.abstract (摘要) This article examines how translator John Nathan finds an English idiom for the representation of subjectivity in Natsume Sōseki`s novel Meian 明暗(Light and Dark, 1916). It also examines how Nathan employs translation techniques that make his own subjectivity as a translator visible, if not intrusive, to the reader. I argue that Light and Dark reveals how Nathan`s voice as translator informs, if not commands, Sōseki`s voice as author. In his prefatory remarks to Light and Dark, Nathan explains that he wanted to give his translation "the patina of age" by mirroring in English how the novel might have sounded to Japanese readers in 1916. In order to achieve this aesthetic and historical effect, Nathan creates an English style that attempts to reproduce what he calls "Jamesian precisions," referring to the realism and representation of consciousness in the novels of American writer Henry James (1843-1916). While Nathan claims that there is no basis for asserting that Sōseki consciously emulated James, he attempts to give Sōseki a Jamesian voice in the name of style. To show how he does this I take selections from Nathan`s translation and compare them to V. H. Viglielmo`s 1971 version and the Japanese original. I show that Nathan`s style is often intrusive as it attempts to emulate the kind of diction, prose, and dialogue found in works of Henry James. I also show how Nathan`s style conveys the ideas of James`s older brother, the philosopher and psychologist William James (1842-1910), whose work Sōseki had also read. I conclude by considering "Jamesian precisions" as a narrative style informed by both Henry and William James. Through close examinations of the texts, the article contributes to the understanding of the role of subjectivity in translation in two ways that are intertwined: how the translator represents the narrator occupying the minds of characters in Light and Dark, and how Nathan`s mind takes hold of Sōseki`s in the process of translation.
dc.format.extent 770281 bytes-
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf-
dc.relation (關聯) 文山評論:文學與文化, 15(1), 77-113
dc.subject (關鍵詞) translation ;Natsume Sōseki ;Henry James ;William James ;consciousness ;Japanese narrative ;subjectivity ;realism
dc.title (題名) Translating "Jamesian Precisions" in Natsume Sōseki`s Light and Dark
dc.type (資料類型) article
dc.identifier.doi (DOI) 10.30395/WSR.202112_15(1).0004
dc.doi.uri (DOI) https://doi.org/10.30395/WSR.202112_15(1).0004