Japanization and the Chinese “Madman” : triangulating Takeuchi Yoshimi's philosophy of translation
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Translation Studies
Publication Date
6-2015
Volume
9
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
16
Publisher
Routledge
Keywords
Japanization, modernity, Sinology, the Other, Takeuchi Yoshimi, Lu Xun
Abstract
The special nature of Sino-Japanese translation, with a history as long as that of vernacular translations of Greek and Latin, is worth exploring because it can throw new light on Eurocentric and universalist approaches to translation theorizing. The tradition of translating between China and Japan, disrupted and then reinvigorated by the “invasion of Europe” in the nineteenth century, is the subject of ruminations by Takeuchi Yoshimi (1910–77), a prominent twentieth-century Sinologist. Takeuchi triangulates the relationship between Japan, China and the West in a way that forces a deeper reconsideration of the notion of the “translational”. The West (the Other) is a means through which identity can be constructed by Japan (the Self), but given Japan's long history of being shaped by/shaping the China imaginary, China is also Japan's Other. Takeuchi's prime interest is in Japan projecting its own identity onto China (via Lu Xun). In the present article, Takeuchi's two translations of Lu Xun's “The Diary of a Madman” in 1956 and 1976 are compared with those by Inoue (1932), Oda and Tanaka (1953) and Komada (1974) to understand how Takeuchi's advocacy of a realignment with China (and Asia) constitutes an attempt to reconstrue a Japanese identity that would refute the West's monistic view of civilization.
DOI
10.1080/14781700.2015.1026271
Print ISSN
14781700
E-ISSN
17512921
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2015 Taylor & Francis. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Chan, T.-h. L. (2016). Japanization and the Chinese “Madman”: Triangulating Takeuchi Yoshimi's philosophy of translation. Translation Studies, 9(1), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/14781700.2015.1026271