Books are silent ambassadors: The Noma award for the translation of Japanese literature |
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| Authors: | Toyo Yoshizaki |
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| Institution: | (1) Kodansha Ltd., 12-21 Otowa 2-chome, Bunkyo-ku, 112-8001 Tokyo, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Summary Now more than ever good translations are proving to be vitally important to fulfilling Shoichi Noma’s mission of advancing
good relationships between cultures. With the emergence of dozens of world-class Japanese writers, the translators of Japanese
literature have acquired a new significance and a new importance. No longer are they required to simply handle the language
like an exotic and precious commodity but they must prepare a writer’s work to compete with literature from around the globe
and let others understand the issues at their very heart of the Japanese people.
Indeed, the selection committee’s choice of Murakami’s Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is an apt example of how literature at its very best can span cultural divides to promote mutual understanding of very complicated
and important world issues. Written for Japanese to help them understand the devastation of war, it is a rare and timely book
that confronts Japan’s experience head on. Ironically, Noma’s idea that books are silent ambassadors, an idea born from agony
and defeat, so many years later is helping the world come together towards a unified vision of peace and understanding.
“Literature has been described as a means of exchange between the hearts of people. Literary translation, then, is the building
of bridges so that all peoples of the world can interact in this way.”
Ye Weiqu, Chinese Institute of Social Studies. |
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