On January 31, 2018, Global Japanese Studies Model Unit, Waseda University, Top Global University Project, invited Associate Professor Jennifer Guest to participate in a workshop entitled “Translation, Adaptation, Kundoku: Thinking about Translation and East Asia.”
The workshop proceeded with first half consisting of a lecture by Dr. Guest and the second half consisting of discussions among the participants and a dialog between Dr. Guest and the participants based on those discussions.

On the topic of translation, Dr. Guest started by raising the issue of technical terms used in academic discussions and research. Dr. Guest noted that the term “translation,” itself, encompasses multiple concepts and can be interpreted in various ways. Furthermore, there exists a tradition of kundoku readings of texts written in classical Chinese (kanbun) in the cultural sphere in East Asia—which includes Japan—of countries where Chinese characters are or were previously used, and there is thus also the issue of how to refer to this tradition when dealing with issues relating to kanbun in Japan. Technical terms such as honyaku (generally rendered in English as “translation”), kundoku (reading texts written in classical Chinese using native words and syntax), kanbun, and kanjiken (the cultural sphere influenced by the use of Chinese characters) do not have established terms that succinctly and accurately describe them in English. In other words, Dr. Guest pointed to the difficulty of the issue of “translating” the very concept of honyaku or translation.

Next, Dr. Guest presented significant recent research findings from both Japan and the rest of the world concerning kundoku reading of kanbun and described the terminology that is being used to explain the phenomenon of kundoku. Then, she took up the example of a passage from Bai Juyi’s poem “Língyuán qiè”: “Dawn arrives at the gate among the pines as the moon wanders in the sky / The autumn wind blows through the emperor’s grave.” She explicated in extremely specific terms how this passage has been read through kundoku since ancient times, the influence Bai Juyi’s turns of phrase have exerted on the world of Japanese poems written in classical Chinese, and how Bai’s Chinese poetry has been adapted into Japanese waka poems and Japanese-language stories.

After the lecture, Dr. Guest posed three questions to the workshop participants: (1) “Considering translation in a wide sense, what keywords can you come up with, in addition to ‘translation,’ ‘adaptation,’ and kundoku?” (2) “What kinds of language-related knowledge are necessary when performing translation? Is the concept of kokugo [“the national language,” that is, Japanese; also used to refer to the educational subject of (“domestic”) literature] even useful?” and (3) “How should we consider the relationship between colloquial and literary language in terms of ‘translation’? When coming into contact with another language, how do colloquial language and literary language, as well as various media environments, affect things?”

After being tasked with these questions, the participants broke up into groups of three and had discussions for around five minutes. Finally, there arose a wide variety of topics for discussion and questions—such as ideas for new keywords when thinking about translation, as well as texts written in classical Chinese that include so-called washū (particular usages and linguistic tics stemming from the writers’ native Japanese tongue)—and there was a lively discussion of “translation,” “adaptation,” and kundoku.

About the lecturer:
Jennifer Guest
Associate Professor (Classical Japanese Literature), Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford; Fellow of The Queen’s College. Her research themes include Chinese literature from the eras corresponding to the Heian and medieval periods in Japan and the acceptance of Chinese texts in Japan, Japanese-Chinese comparative literature, introductory Chinese primers and commentary texts in Japan, the history of literacy, and comparative studies. Her publications include Primers, Commentaries, and Kanbun Literacy in Japanese Literary Culture (950-1250CE). PhD dissertation, Columbia University, 2013.