Preface
"If you don't read Japanese literature, the more you look at people, the smaller you become. ”
If this sentence is taken out and looked at alone, there seems to be no problem, after all, there is no first, there is no second, there are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, and all kinds of opinions naturally have their own reasons.
But if you are told that this point of view is from the mouth of the famous Japanese translator Lin Shaohua, it should arouse some curiosity, why is he denying his career?
Of course, the most perplexing are those who love Japanese literature, many of whom still read Mr. Hayashi's translation, but now the translator has personally warned them to read less, so why did they introduce it in the first place?
Why?
Lin Shaohua is a well-known translator in China, he graduated from Jilin University in 1975 with a major in Japanese, and later obtained a master's degree in literature, his main research direction is Japanese classical literature, and after graduation, he taught at Jinan University and Nagasaki University in Japan.
Since the translation of "Norwegian Wood" in the late 80s of the last century, the name Lin Shaohua has been inextricably linked with the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, and the two have achieved each other.
So far, Lin Shaohua has translated 38 of Murakami's works, ranking first in China, it can be said that as long as you read Murakami's books, you will inevitably be unable to avoid Lin Shaohua.
Haruki Murakami himself, who also benefited from Lin Shaohua's promotion, has become one of the most prestigious and well-known Japanese writers in China at present, gaining a large number of readers and fans.
Haruka Murakami
So, as a "dazzling star" in China's translation of Japanese literature, why does Lin Shaohua prevent Chinese people from reading Japanese literature?
According to Mr. Lin Shaohua's own explanation, he has gained a deep understanding and feeling of Japanese literature in his years of reading and translating.
He believes that Japanese works are generally "gloomy, bleak, sentimental, and decadent", and for young people, such a temperament and atmosphere is not conducive to establishing a correct understanding and the ideal of "truth, goodness, and beauty".
Now that the world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, and China is also on the journey of a new era, people should broaden their horizons, rather than learn from the "sorrowful lamentation" of Japanese literature.
In addition, some value orientations and ethical distortions in Japanese literature often surprise people and shatter the three views.
This can also be glimpsed in the daily news reports, there are always some seemingly perverted or sick things in Japan, such as the "Sumin Festival" in Iwate Prefecture every year, which requires local men to wander the streets naked or wearing only underwear and pray.
and its well-developed "small film" industry, all of which, to a certain extent, show that Japan is different in terms of "sexual culture".
The scene of the Su Min Festival
In addition to the problems of Japanese culture itself, Lin Shaohua also mentioned that the current "mixed fish" of translated works in China has greatly increased the cost of trial and error for readers.
From the classics Yasunari Kawabata and Kiyuo Mishima to Haruki Murakami and Keigo Higashino in recent years, the share of Japanese literature in the Chinese book market has gradually increased, but the level of translation is also uneven, with many fine products and a lot of garbage.
When I heard Mr. Lin Shaohua say this reason, many barrages began to question, and said half-guessing and half-jokingly: "I understand, I will only look at your translation in the future." ”
The act of translating while not allowing the reader to read it is both confusing and hypocritical, and perhaps the content of the work is really irrelevant to the real thoughts.
Why is Japanese literature like this?
First of all, it has to do with the aesthetic tradition. "Silence", "Mourning", and "Mystery" are the three major components of the Japanese aesthetic system, and just from the name, it makes people feel cold and lonely.
Representative of Japanese garden: dry landscape
A rock, a piece of sand, dim light and shadow, and something so fantastical that it even seems to us to be a bit of a "netherworld" may be a beautiful experience for the Japanese, most notably the various performances during the Tokyo Olympics.
Therefore, Japanese literature always has this gloomy temperament, as well as the habit of dissecting one's own heart, which makes it easy for readers to read and feel depressed.
This kind of aesthetic is not difficult to understand, such as the ancient Chinese poem, "Thousands of mountains and birds fly away, and thousands of paths and people disappear", as well as "The curtain rolls the west wind, and people are thinner than yellow flowers", all of which are lonely and sad, but when we read it, can't we also feel a kind of beauty?
The second is related to the region and history of Japan.
The narrowness of the region has created a very contrasting opposition in Japanese culture, with a restrained depression on the one hand, and a crazy indulgence and expansion on the other.
Ever since the Meiji Restoration led to Japan's rapid growth into a modern country, Japan has been in the process of raising hopes and then disillusioning them, and then disillusioning them.
Especially during and after World War II, there was a pessimistic mood in Japan, and the writers and poets were very emotional and sensitive, which made Japanese literature during this period almost completely depressed and distorted.
In the book list of every "literary youth", there should be "Human Disqualification" written by Japanese writer Osamu Dazai, don't care if you haven't read it, it's enough to have a sense of atmosphere in your hand.
"Disqualification in the world" means "losing the qualification to be a human being in the world", and this kind of melancholy can no longer fit the hearts of adolescent children.
Osamu Dazai
Among the well-known Japanese writers, Ryunosuke Akutagawa who wrote "Rashomon", Yasunari Kawabata who wrote "Snow Country", Kiyuo Mishima who wrote "Kinkakuji", and Osamu Dazai above, all committed suicide, which almost became a tradition of Japanese post-war writers.
Yasunari Kawabata
epilogue
The power of words is immeasurable, and of course Japanese literature can be read, but how to keep one's heart and not be affected by those negative emotions requires a correct attitude.
Mr. Lin Shaohua also said that he should try to see as little as possible, and he also said: "So as not to look at it more and more small, and live up to the great era of dragons and tigers." ”
Resources:
[1] Bilibili barrage.com, video posted by Mr. Lin Shaohua's personal account on April 23, 2024: As a Japanese translator, why do I say I should read less Japanese literature?
[2] "Young Writers" 2014 No. 2: An Exploration of Decadent Beauty in Osamu Dazai's Works
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