Roy Andrew Miller also wrote an article called On ...

2008-06-09T10:20:33.771+09:00

Roy Andrew Miller also wrote an article called On Nihongo (1986) bin which he harshly attacks Ivan Morris's translation of Makurasoshi: "Indeed, few books in the entire history of literary translation can have been as badly deflected from their original sense and purport as has, in this fashion, the Makura no soshi in the Morris version." The author, he claims, is too much emphasized; Morris should have treated the author as a sort of afterthought.

Also, Miller points out that the Pillow Book is based on two urtexts, which are based on three previous urtexts. Therefore, to assume that the work allows us to "know, incredibly, exactly 'what [Sei Shonagon] is like" is absurd.

For more, see Ikeda Kikan's preface to NKTB Makura no soshi, about sources of Pillow Book.

Thx for the article, Ryan.

-Cleavis

Thanks for the summary!-Jillps If you want to see ...

2008-06-08T19:32:59.047+09:00

Thanks for the summary!
-Jill

ps If you want to see a good summary of Walter Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator” essay, cut and paste this:
http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/wyrick/debclass/benja.htm)

Comments on 『BEHOLD MY SWARTHY FACE。』: Notes on “On the Difficulty of Japanese Translatio...

Roy Andrew Miller also wrote an article called On ...

Thanks for the summary!-Jillps If you want to see ...