In modern Japan, especially in the Meiji period (1868-1912), translations occupied a
dominant position in the literary polysystem. This paper claims that, since the Meiji
period, “competing translational norms” have existed in the Japanese literary polysystem,
which is to say that “literal” (adequate) and “free” (acceptable) translations have existed
in parallel, vying for superior status. Moreover, this paper traces the literalist tradition
in modern Japan. Though “literal” translation has been widely criticized, the styles and
expressions it created have made a significant contribution to the founding and development
of the modern Japanese language and its literature. Among the arguments in favor of literal
translation, Iwano Homei’s literal translation strategy—the so-called “straight
translation”—had different features than the others, and thus the potential to produce
translations that maintain the cohesion, coherence, information structure and illocutionary
effects of the source text.
A Genealogy of Literal Translation in Modern Japan