On April 22, Professor Lin Shaohua, a well-known Japanese translator, released a video "As a Japanese translator, why do I say I should read less Japanese literature?", which caused widespread discussion among netizens.
In the video, Professor Lin Shaohua said that Japanese literature is biased in its grasp of the relationship between "truth, goodness and beauty", and generally tends to be gloomy, bleak, sentimental, and decadent. Therefore, Professor Lin Shaohua advised students to read less Japanese literature, so as not to "read more and more smaller" and live up to the great era of dragons and tigers.
As a well-known Japanese translator, Professor Lin Shaohua is familiar to readers for his translation of the novel "Norwegian Wood" by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Lin Shaohua has also translated classic works by famous Japanese novelists such as Natsume Soseki, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Kawabata Yasunari, Inoue Yasushi, and Higashiyama Kaii. Professor Lin Shaohua has obviously his theoretical basis for proposing the imbalance in the relationship between "truth, goodness and beauty" in Japanese literature.
There is no doubt that many Japanese novels tend to be gloomy, such as many of Osamu Dazai's novels, which are too gray at the core. Most classic Japanese novels focus on themes such as loneliness, introspection, and social pressure, while Japanese novels focus on emotional rendering, making it easy for readers to fall into them. If you read too much Japanese literature and don't read other works, it is indeed easy to indulge in it, which can lead to narrowing of horizons and even affecting mental health.
Japanese literature is delicate and authentic in its emotional expression, which is the main reason why many people respect Japanese literature. Also, there are many positive works in Japanese literature. In particular, Japan has also given birth to many excellent anime works, such as "Dragon Ball", which calls for peace, "Slam Dunk", and so on.
For example, these gloomy Japanese literary works such as "Human Disqualification" are also full of profound thoughts and expressions on human nature and social reality. The world is inclusive, and literature has the freedom to express all kinds of thoughts. Life in the real world is full of suffering and challenges, and expressing the negative emotions of human beings in the face of suffering is an indispensable part of literary works.
Of course, in recent years, the level of Japanese literary works has indeed been decreasing, and the widely disseminated Japanese literary and artistic works are not worthy of their name. Even many Japanese literary works express distorted ethical orientations and aesthetic tastes. However, many translators do not screen it in the process of translation, and introduce this part of the cultural dross into China, which will indeed affect many Chinese people, especially young people with immature minds.
Professor Lin Shaohua's view is to read less Japanese literature, but in fact, it is intended to remind readers to choose their reading materials carefully, not to reject them altogether. In fact, there are many works of Japanese literature that are positive, and they depict the beauty of human nature, the spirit of perseverance, and hope for the future.
With regard to the import and translation of Japanese literature, although there are second-rate, third-rate, or even non-mainstream works, it is still necessary to strengthen supervision and restrict the import and translation of Japanese literature. We should take the essence and remove the dross.
As Mr. Lu Xun said: In short, we have to take it. We are to use, store, or destroy. Then, the owner is the new owner, and the house will become the new house. However, first of all, this person must be calm, courageous, discerning, and not selfish. If there is no one, people cannot become new people, and without what they take, literature and art cannot become new literature and art.