Greetings!

 

On behalf of the International Japanese Studies Group at Kanagawa University's Minatomirai Campus, in Yokohama, Japan, I am pleased to announce the following lecture:

 

Difficulties of Translating Japanese Literature into Foreign Languages: With Special Reference to Malayalam Translation of Ishikawa Takuboku's Ichiaku no suna (A handful of sand)

 

Pullattu Abraham George

Specially Appointed Professor

Faculty of Cross-Cultural and Japanese Studies, Kanagawa University

 

Wednesday, Wednesday, 19 November 2025 (hybrid)
15:30-17:00
Room 6019
Kanagawa University, Minatomirai Campus
Yokohama

 

Abstract

In this lecture, an attempt will be made to highlight certain problems which were confronted by me during my translation of Ichiaku no Suna (A Handful of Sand) by Ishikawa Takuboku (1886-1912) into the Malayalam language. Takuboku, a well-known poet of tanka and modern style poems of the late Meiji period, left a unique mark in the world of tanka poetry by making two major reforms. Traditionally tanka poems, consisting of only 31 syllables, are usually written in a single line, whereas Takuboku introduced a new style of writing tanka in three lines while maintaining the number of the syllables. Since maintaining 31 syllables while translating tanka into a foreign language is impossible, this new style of writing in three lines has given a kind of liberty to the translator as he/she can easily maintain the three-line style. Another reform Takuboku introduced was the usage of common man's language (spoken form) instead of elegant, rhetoric and classical style language.

 

Translation of Ichiaku no suna into Malayalam not only gave me an opportunity to feel and realize the true intensity and depth of Takuboku's tanka, but also it made me realize the difficulty of the task of translating a literary work, especially poetry, from one language into another, as the racial or linguistic characteristics, thought patterns, cultural and historical evolution of societies, etc., are different from country to country. Prior to the translation of Ichiaku no suna, I had translated into Malayalam several short stories and novellas of Miyazawa Kenji and Shimazaki Toson but never faced such difficulties as I confronted when I translated the above-mentioned tanka poems.

 

In my lecture, first of all, I will be briefly introducing various Western theories on translation and then touch on various difficulties I faced while translating. In my opinion, translation theories are not essential for producing highly accurate translation; what is required is sound knowledge of the source language and its culture, sound knowledge of the target language and its culture, and deep knowledge of the socio-cultural background of the author or poet. But still sometime, the so-called theories help the translator to determine usage of certain terms and idiomatic phrases. Translation theories, like "domesticizing," "foreignizing," "use of third language words and phrases," etc., are helpful. I have mainly applied the theory of "foreignizing" where if a word in the original (Japanese) text does not find an appropriate equivalent in the target language (Malayalam), the original word will be introduced to the readers of the translation in transliterated form. But I also used occasionally the strategies of "domesticizing" and "use of third language words and phrases."

 

To Attend Online (Zoom):

Access the Zoom Meeting via the following Meeting ID and Passcode. Preregistration is NOT required to attend via Zoom.

Zoomでのご参加は事前登録不要です。当日は下記のZoomミーティングIDとパスコードでログインしてください。

Meeting ID: 935 8457 1391 Passcode: KUMMC

To Attend in Person

 

Preregistration via the link below at least a day in advance for those coming from outside the KU community is greatly appreciated. If you are coming from off campus, please also register as a Guest at the Information counter near the entrance before coming up to the room.

 

ご来場の⽅： 神奈川⼤学関係者は事前登録不要です。学外の⽅は前⽇までに下記のリンクにて事前登録をお願いします。当⽇は1FのInformationカウンターでGuest登録を済ませてから、部屋までお越しください。Zoomでのご参加は事前登録不要です。

 

https://forms.gle/XrkV18K1o9U2rDeZ7

 

Inquiries・お問い合わせ

 

James Welker jrwelker@kanagawa-u.ac.jp

 

Future Lectures

The International Japanese Studies Group at Kanagawa University also plans the following future lecture the remainder of the Japanese academic year. All lectures will be from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at our Minatomirai Campus. Please mark your calendars. 

 

For details, please also refer to the flier here: 

http://human.kanagawa-u.ac.jp/kenkyu/symposium/pdf/autmun_2025.pdf 

 

Wednesday, 17 December 2025 (hybrid)
Elise Voyau, Kanagawa University
Japan in Tension After 1968: The Workshop School of Photography in Focus

 

Wednesday, 21 January 2026 (in person only)
Quintana Scherer, Kanagawa University
Bodies of Proof: Little People, Yokohama-e, and the Imagined Foreigner

 

Details on upcoming lectures will be announced one to two weeks in advance. If you would like to be on our direct email list to be sure you do not miss an announcement, please contact James Welker (jrwelker@kanagawa-u.ac.jp). 

 

Best regards,

 

James Welker

Kanagawa University

===================================================================
|| James Welker  |  ジェームズ・ウェルカー  (he/him)
|| Professor  |  教授 

|| Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Faculty of Cross-Cultural & Japanese Studies

|| Kanagawa University--Minatomirai Campus

|| 神奈川大学 みなとみらいキャンパス 国際日本学部 国際文化交流学科

|| jrwelker@kanagawa-u.ac.jp  |  jrwelker@me.com

|| Linktree (Professional profiles & social media)

===================================================================

Co-editor of the Global Queer Asias book series (University of Michigan Press)

Kanagawa University International Japanese Studies Talk Series, Autumn-Winter 2025-2026

Selected Publications:

--James Welker, Transfiguring Women in Late Twentieth Century Japan: Feminists, Lesbians, and Girls' Comics Artists and Fans (University of Hawai'i Press, 2024)
--James Welker, ed. Queer Transfigurations: Boys Love Media in Asia (University of Hawai'i Press, 2022)
--James Welker, ed. "Queer(ing)," special issue of Mechademia: Second Arc 13, no. 1 (2020)
--ジェームズ・ウェルカー 編著『BLが開く扉　変容するアジアのセクシュアリティとジェンダー』(青土社  2019)  [James Welker, ed., BL Opening Doors: Transfiguring Sexuality and Gender in Asia (Seidosha, 2019)]