What do you like about Japanese literature?
Ursula Gräfe (Germany)
This is not an easy question because there are so many aspects of Japanese literature that I like. But perhaps the most interesting thing for me is the different way in which Japanese authors deal with reality. In all periods and genres, their concept of reality is different from the one we generally encounter in European literature. The effortless, natural embedding of the seemingly unreal or even miraculous in everyday life is a feature that runs through the whole of Japanese literary history and, paradoxically as it may sound, to me represents a more realistic approach to the human condition overall, because it involves the realisation that there are so many levels of truth and that everything is transitory. Most Japanese writers do this in a lyrical and associative style, which I find very appealing.
I would like to attempt a reflection on the use of certain alienating linguistic images through which Japanese authors sublimate critical views on social and political issues. According to my thesis, this kind of writing favours an outsourcing of various conflicts into the »metaphorical« realms of fantasy. The author Murata Sayaka (村田沙耶香, コンビニ人間, 2018, dt. Die Ladenhüterin, 2018, et al.) seems to be an excellent example of this. In Murata’s literary cosmos, humans do not rule over matter, nor is there a sharp distinction between subject and object, because all appearances are just different states of the same thing. Her characters can be aliens, magicians, or engage in cannibalistic practices. Put simply, she uses her darkly fantastic imagery to write radically against certain themes in Japanese society, such as group pressure, gender inequality, meritocracy, and consumerism, but takes her critique out of concrete everyday contexts. (In this, she is in the tradition of Mishima Yukio, Abe Kōbō, Murakami Ryū and Murakami Haruki). I could imagine that the recent international success of Japanese literature – also and especially of authors such as Kawakami Hiromi, Ōgawa Yoko or Oyamada Hiroko – relates to this characteristic parable form of representation.
I think my first encounter with Japanese literature was at the Frankfurt Public Library, where I found Yatsushiro Sachiko's translation of Mishima Yukio's 午後の曳航 (1963), published in 1970 under the German title Der Seemann, der die See verriet. However, I gained a more comprehensive knowledge of Japanese literature after enrolling in Japanese Studies at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. We studied the literature of the Heian or Edo periods and famous novelists such as Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, Tanizaki Jun'ichirō or Mishima Yukio, and the different perception of reality, the associative and poetic nature of the language quickly aroused a strong fascination. However, I felt that I did not have enough access to and knowledge of younger or lesser-known authors. Of course, in the 1980s there was a certain backlog of translations of classics. And there is still some work to do.
Fortunately, the appreciation of Japanese literature has grown considerably since then, as the statistics show. The most important source language for translations into German is English (62.6 per cent), followed by Japanese (10.8 per cent) and French (10.3 per cent).*This makes Japanese the second most translated language in Germany. Of course, manga accounts for a larger proportion of published translations. Still, readers' attitudes to Japanese literature have changed. Whereas a few decades ago the main attraction of Japanese literature was its »exotic« appeal, interest today is much broader and more diverse.
Today, a new generation of Japanese writers who deal with the problematic social situation in contemporary Japan is much in demand. Younger writers such as Kawakami Mieko, the above-mentioned Murata Sayaka, Usami Rin or Yuzuki Asako are attracting a lot of attention these days for their uncompromising, sometimes radical attitude towards modern society. Their works are characterised by profound representations of psychosocial problems, dealing with depression, gender issues, violence, self-harm, autistic tendencies, insanity, as well as psychopathological illness or any kind of social deviation as a form of resistance. In this context, I would like to refer again to the work of Murata Sayaka.
The generation of authors writing in the 1970s and beyond, including Murakami Haruki and Murakami Ryū, were faced with the need to find new ways into the novelistic space, either by approaching new themes or by attempting to explore new territories. It cannot be overlooked that Murakami Haruki, whose novels deal with the dislocations and loneliness of the modern self, has strongly influenced the perception of Japanese literature on an
international level for at least the last twenty years, paving the way for many young authors and for literary genres – e.g., crime, fantasy, science fiction – that are not explicitly Junbungaku to be translated into many languages. Just to name a few: Higashino Keigo, Yokomizo Seishi, Kawamura Genki or Durian Sukegawa.
Most of the people I know are interested in Japanese literature. But then for professional reasons, I have a lot to do with Japanologists, editors, publishers or booksellers who deal with books related to Japan. Almost everyone in my private circle (even my neighbours) knows Murakami Haruki.
Outlook: For the past twenty years I have been very interested in young women writers, and I still feel very strongly about the importance and necessity of promoting and translating their work. Recently, however, perhaps because I am getting older myself, I have felt a growing inclination towards authors born in the 1940s or earlier, such as Kanai Mieko, who is almost unknown in Germany, and especially Ariyoshi Sawako, two of whose works have been translated into German but are almost forgotten. I want to help them get back on stage. This includes new translations, but also re-translations. In 2020, I was lucky enough to be able to re-translate (金閣寺, 1956, dt. Der Goldene Pavillon, 2020) by Mishima Yukio, which I consider to be one of the best novels in modern Japanese literature. And in 2024, I will be doing a re-translation of 午後の曳航 which will bring me full circle. In conclusion, it seems appropriate to quote Murakami Haruki at this point.
»While there are immortal works, in principle there can be no immortal translations«.
(Literary Translator)