2013 shortlist: 10 Japanese female authors
Since the new year, I’ve been trying to read more books by Japanese women, with a view to eventually making other people read them as well. So in no particular […]
You Ain’t From Around Here: Translation, Globish, My Heart and the Real World
Michael Emmerich has been endlessly criticized by reviewers and readers alike for “Americanizing” in his translations, something he pays very close attention to. I know, because this is how he […]
Japanese translator heroes: Max Bickerton
William Maxwell Bickerton, September 1924. Property of the National Library of New Zealand. At Wednesday’s Tsuda lecture at SOAS, Professor Norma Field, in discussing the Japanese proletarian cultural movement in […]
Wataya Risa and Kawakami Hiromi in translation: cover up?
Faber’s cover for the 50th anniversary edition of The Bell Jar is so horrifically misrepresentative that it’s almost endearing. If somebody can be tricked into buying it in Tesco because it looks like a […]
Suzhou Nocturne (蘇州夜曲) – lyrics, chords, translation
Originally performed by Yamaguchi Yoshiko (aka Li Xianglan or Ri Kouran) in the 1941 film Suzhou Nights (蘇州の夜), the song “Suzhou Nocturne”, though beautiful, has an inescapably nasty history. Yamaguchi, born in […]
The Mixed-Up Encyclopedic Literature Dictionary (Excerpt)
The Mixed-Up Encyclopedic Literature Dictionary (Excerpt) 『乱調文学大辞典』 (Ranchou bungaku daijiten) by TSUTSUI Yasutaka (筒井康隆) published 1986 by Kadokawa Shoten A avant-garde 【avɑ̃ɡaʁd】- an old-fashioned artistic movement. B Bell Tolls, For […]
Nishina Rhapsody March
Nishina Rhapsody March1 『二科狂想行進曲』 (Nishina kyousou koushinkyoku) TERADA Torahiko (寺田寅彦) November 1928 in Reizan bijutsu 『霊山美術』 1. Old, traditional floorboards worn underfoot in, yes, an old, traditional row house. This rented house […]
