In this article, I explore the relationship between the reproduction of hegemonic discourses of national representation in the reception of literature in translation and processes of canonization. I argue that World Literature as a paradigm hinders our efforts of overcoming the burdens of canonization. As a case study, I analyze the implications of building and reproducing a canon of Japanese literature in translation in the United States for the way Japan has been represented in public discourse in the last thirty years. I will focus on the reception of Murakami Haruki as the contemporary representative of the canon of Japanese literature in translation. My goal is to examine how the circumstances of Japanese literature in translation perpetuate mechanisms of canonization in their engagement and legitimation of an ongoing logic of representation that is non-confrontational with agents in power. I aim to test the extent to which studying the reception of East Asian literature in translation can help us promote a broader discussion on the appropriateness of such frameworks in our understanding of the contemporary literary phenomenon.
For Hong Kong poet Leung Ping-Kwan (penname: Ye Si, 1949-2013), travel allows him to visit literary capitals, in which his works are translated into local languages. Without regarding himself as merely a Hong Kong writer, Leung intentionally reminisces about his travel accounts in these literary centers, accentuating how his life is permeated by European traditions. This essay examines the trope of travel in Leung Ping-Kwan’s poems along with his prose essays, focusing on the dialectical thinking of centers and peripheries. I contend that the idea of travel points to the poet’s personal experiences as well as his literary endeavors while embarking on his poetic journeys. I adopt the notion of “self-exile” to describe the moment when Leung stays away from his native land and ponders on how Hong Kong Literature – the so-called “small literature” – can raise its visibility if it is presented in the international literary scene. Specifically, he draws several routes to the literary centers, Paris and Berlin in particular. And without simply being assimilated into the dominant literary culture, Leung usually writes in Chinese and tactically inserts the images of Hong Kong while illustrating the European urban imageries.
The global translation field is characterized by an asymmetrical and hierarchical structure. The translation of Mo Yan’s fiction into English falls into the underrepresented research domain of translation flows from the periphery to the center. Combining Bourdieu’s theory and world literature studies, this article explores how Mo Yan’s fiction circulates from the periphery to the English center and becomes world literature. Drawing on a socio-archival analysis of materials collected from the Chinese Literature Translation Archive, the article reveals the multifaceted and invisible roles of Howard Goldblatt, Sandra Dijkstra, editors, and publishers in conjunction with their interactions in the production and consecration of Mo Yan’s fiction. In so doing, it argues that the circulation of Mo Yan’s fiction into the American literary field and its ascendency to the ranks of world literature can be primarily attributed to the manifold roles simultaneously performed by the network of translation agents with their cultural, social, economic and symbolic capital. The article also stimulates a rethinking of the applicability of Bourdieu’s sociological theory established in the French context to other contexts and contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms for producing and consecrating peripheral literature in the dominating literary field.
This paper sheds light on the main trends in translation of Japanese literature in contemporary Hungary and theorize the role of Haruki Murakami’s works in making Japanese literature widely recognized. Firstly, the paper gives a general overview on translations of Japanese literature in Hungary in the post-1989 era. I argue that after a decline in translation in the 1990’s, the spread of anime and manga combined with the popularity of Haruki Murakami’s novels generated a growing interest in Japanese literature and culture in Hungary resulting in changed translation strategies. While translations were limited to pieces of the so-called junbungaku (pure literature) in the pre-1989 era, numerous pieces of taishūbungaku (popular literature) have been translated since the 2000’s, attracting a wider range of readers than ever. Based on book reviews from critics and readers published in traditional and social media, the second part of this paper will explore the main platforms of Japanese literature and analyze its reception. I argue that the magical realist setting combined with dialogues on fundamental questions of life create a specific literary mode which satisfy the Western readers’ desire for the exotic Other, ensuring the place of Japanese literature in the Western literary world.