The Japanese Other in translated literature: paratexts in the translations of Kawabata and Mishima in Spain

This paper is a case study of the role of translation paratexts in creating or reinforcing the image of the Japanese Other. The aim of this paper is to analyze factors related to stereotyping in order to contribute to a better knowledge of the mechanisms of representation of Otherness. My hypothesis is that a significant number of paratexts include stereotypes and that paratext authorship (translator, publisher etc.) and the types of translation (direct, indirect, retranslation) are factors related to this. The corpus comprises books by Mishima and Kawabata for which there are two or more different translations published in Spain.

English Translation of Rekhtyia Rekhtyia Di: A Study on Category Shifts

This study aims at exploring category shifts in English translation Facts are Facts of the Pashto text Rekhtyia Rekhtyia Di by Khan Abdul Wali Khan. It investigates the nature of category shifts, giving an overview of prior theories of translation. It adopts the qualitative method, using the closing reading technique as a tool for collection as well as interpretation of data under the theoretical framework of Catford’s theory of translation shifts. It analyzes category shifts in English translation Facts are Facts, by studying source text and target text in parallel. It finds out the answer to the question: What are category shifts in English translation Facts are Facts of the Pashto text Rekhtyia Rekhtyia Di? Moreover, it gives an avenue to future researchers to apply category shifts to other forms of translated literature. Keywords: Category shifts, qualitative method, close reading technique, source, and target text

French Translations in the Ukrainian Literary Polysystem (The Executed Renaissance)

This contribution is within the framework of the polysystem theory of I. Even-Zohar, who, starting in translation studies, raised lively reflections on the role of translated literature within the literature of national culture. Literature, according to the researcher, is an open and dynamic polysystem composed of the centre and the periphery, the evolution of which is due to the continuous rivalry between the innovative and conservative tendencies of the polysystem. The contribution of the translations to the literary polysystem of a culture depends on their position in the polysystem of the target culture. Translations, being central in the literary polysystem, serve as sources of innovation as translators are freer to introduce foreign elements and techniques to the target literature. On the contrary, if the subsystem of the translated literature lies in the periphery of the polysystem, translators have to limit themselves to the models existing in the target culture, thus helping to maintain conservative tendencies. Our contribution is therefore an attempt to apply the theory of I. Even-Zohar to the study of French translations in the Ukrainian literary polysystem of the 1920ies-30ies. We have tried to shed light on the position of translated French literature in the Ukrainian literary polysystem as well as its contribution to the development of the reception system by analyzing the translation activity of the neo-classics representatives. Thus, we have identified three types of relationships between systems and subsystems characterizing the polysystemic approach: the centre versus the periphery (transitions from French); innovative systems versus conservative systems (the emergence of new literary genres in the centre of the field such as sonnets and heroic comedies; in addition the Symbolist and the Impressionist movements replaced the Soviet realism); canonical systems versus non-canonical systems (the introduction to the system of versification of forms and motifs which were different from those of Soviet literature).

Children’s fiction and anime: The case of Shōkōjo Sēra

This article considers the case of Shōkōjo Sēra (1985), a Japanese animated series based on the novel A Little Princess, within the context of the World Masterpiece Theater, a television staple that popularized the practice of adapting classic children’s books into long-running anime. The analysis identifies the changes occurring in the adaptation, casting a light on the creative and productive choices undertaken by the Japanese staff. In doing so, the original novel and its reception in Japan are taken into account, with regard to the role of translated literature for local children’s and girls’ fiction. The study thus demonstrates that the alterations found in the series are both genre-related and explicable in terms of cultural-filtered interpretations, as can be seen in the negotiation of the protagonist as a Christian damsel-in-distress, combining melodramatic tropes, a signifier of westernization and a domesticating rationale of her alleged passivity.

“Germany asks: is it OK to laugh at Hitler?”

Within imagological approaches, paratexts can provide insights into how the Other of translated literature is presented to a new target audience. So, within a transnational context, such as Germany and Britain’s shared experience of the Second World War, can the source and target-culture paratexts invoke the same images? Through a case study of Er ist wieder da, a novel that satirises Germany’s relationship with its National Socialist past, and the British publication of the English translation Look Who’s Back, this article finds that while the novel’s humour is reframed by the British publisher, the novel’s controversial position within Germany’s Vergangenheitsbewältigung discourse remains intrinsic to the paratexts published in the British press. As such, this article demonstrates the transnational relevance of individual national characteristics to the paratextual framing of translated literature, the value of paratexts as objects of imagological study, and the methodological benefits of distinguishing between production- and reception-side paratexts.

Replenishment of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Library with new Editions in the 1770-80s: Initiators, Implementers, Needs

The article examines the socio-cultural aspects of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Library functioning in the 1770–80s. The focus is on acquiring the books as a purposeful way to form a collection of books that best demonstrated the monastery’s needs for books, interests and reading tastes of the fraternity. The author attempts to reconstruct the network of «book agents»: people who assisted in books acquisition; determine who was the initiator and who was the implementer of procurement; specify the needs in the printed books, as well as whether printed books completely displaced the manuscripts at the end of the 18th century.The author discovers the interest of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in replenishing the book collection not only to meet the readers’ needs of the fraternity but also based on the understanding of the importance of a well-stocked library to confirm the status of the monastery. It has been established that the «book agents» were the Lavra attorneys in Moscow and St. Petersburg, who carried out various assignments of the monastery; former Lavra monks transferred to other dioceses; or persons loyal to Lavra, specifically involved for this purpose. There is interest in translated literature, periodicals, new publications, and activity in the purchase of printed materials, which generally signals changes in the reading practices of the monastic corporation. The analysis of the repertoire of purchased books confirmed the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the growing demand for secular and educational books on science and nature. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, while remaining quite traditional in the segment of theological literature, where Latin continued to dominate, demonstrated openness to new trends in book culture of the second half of the 18th century.