Worlding Sei Shônagon
The Pillow Book in Translation
Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Press · Print & ebook · June 16, 2012
The Makura no Sôshi, or The Pillow Book as it is generally known in English, is a collection of personal reflections and anecdotes about life in the Japanese royal court composed around the turn of the eleventh century by a woman known as Sei Shônagon.
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- Who it’s for
- Trace the Western translation history of The Pillow Book’s “spring, dawn” passage.
- Themes
- Translation history, Japanese literature, Cross-cultural interpretation
- Genres
- Japanese Literary Criticism, Translating & Interpreting, Women Authors Criticism
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The Makura no Sôshi, or The Pillow Book as it is generally known in English, is a collection of personal reflections and anecdotes about life in the Japanese royal court composed around the turn of the eleventh century by a woman known as Sei Shônagon. Its opening section, which begins haru wa akebono, or “spring, dawn,” is arguably the single most famous passage in Japanese literature. Throughout its long life, The Pillow Book has been translated countless times.
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It has captured the European imagination with its lyrical style, compelling images and the striking personal voice of its author. Worlding Sei Shônagon guides the reader through the remarkable translation history of The Pillow Book in the West, gathering almost fifty translations of the “spring, dawn” passage, which span one-hundred-and-thirty-five years and sixteen languages. Many of the translations are made readily available for the first time in this study. The versions collected in Worlding Sei Shônagon are an enlightening example of the many ways in which translations can differ from their source text, undermining the idea of translation as the straightforward transfer of meaning from one language to another, one culture to another. Published in English.
Spring, Dawn in Translation
Trace the Western translation history of The Pillow Book’s “spring, dawn” passage.
Come here for
- The “spring, dawn” passage across almost fifty translations
- A translation history spanning 135 years and sixteen languages
Expect
- Translations that differ from their source text
Where it sits
| Translating & Interpreting | 77% |
|---|---|
| Japanese Literary Criticism | 52% |
| Women Authors Criticism | 40% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Translating & Interpreting
- Japanese Literary Criticism
- Authors
- Valerie Henitiuk
- Publisher
- Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Press
- Published
- June 16, 2012
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Translation history · Japanese literature · Cross-cultural interpretation
- Reading lane
- Translating & Interpreting