correspondence
adaptation
Although hard to pin down, the term
, stemming from
, the instrument used to accompany ancient Greek poetry, usually applies to a direct style, sometimes referred to as “affective-expressive,” that is honest, emotional, spontaneous, and often works toward revealing heretofore-unknown insights or motivations. It can also have overtones of musicality that take full advantage of the sound elements of language. Ralph Freedman has characterized lyricism in prose as “the direct portrayal of awareness,” and Colin Falck sees lyricism as “the most essential of our linguistic modes of apprehension of reality.”
Freedman, Ralph. The Lyrical Novel: Studies in Hermann Hesse, André Gide, and Virginia
Woolf . Princeton UP, 1963, p. viii.
Falck, Colin. Myth, Truth and Literature: Towards a True Post-Modernism. Cambridge UP,
1989, p. 60.
Translators often work with
that prioritize
over
. This approach is well-suited to original texts that are primarily
prose, or reported speech (
), but falls short of the mark if the text contains
passages that exhibit shifting
, layers of
, or literary
. In order to remedy this shortfall I propose a modified approach to translating lyrical prose that involves the translator preparing
, the first following standard
-focused assumptions and the second, executed as something of an
, emphasizing the
. The final, published, translation would be a
of the two that would benefit from the advantages of both. Below I demonstrate this approach using short passages by Walser and Kajii that share a common theme: an insight gleaned from taking a stroll.
“Ich gehe immer weiter und werde zuerst wieder aufmerksam, wie der
See über grünem Laub und über stillen Tannenspitzen hervorschimmert; ich denke, das ist mein See, zu dem ich gehen muss, zu dem es mich hinzieht. Auf welche Weise es mich zieht, und warum es mich zieht, wird der geneigte Leser selber wissen, wenn er das Interesse hat, meiner Beschreibung weiter zu folgen, welche sich erlaubt, über Wege, Wiesen, Wald, Waldbach und Feld zu springen bis an den kleinen See selbst, wo sie stehen bleibt mit mir und sich nicht genug über die unerwartete, nur heimlich geahnte Schönheit desselben verwundern kann.”
この径を知ってから間もなくの頃、ある期待のために心を緊
張させながら、私はこの静けさのなかをことにしばしば歩い
た。私が目ざしてゆくのは杉林の間からいつも氷室から来る
ような冷気が径へ通っているところだった。一本の古びた筧
がその奥の小暗いなかからおりて来ていた。耳を澄まして聴
くと、幽かなせせらぎの音がそのなかにきこえた。私の期待
はその水音だった。
"I keep going and begin to notice once more when the lake gleams above green foliage and unmoving spruce tops; I think, “That is my lake, to which I must go, to which I am drawn.” In what manner it draws me, and why it draws me, will the kind reader himself understand, if he should have the interest to follow my description, which allows itself to skip over paths, meadows, forests, forest brooks, and fields and proceed directly to the small lake itself, where it will stand with me, unable to marvel enough at the unexpected, only secretly anticipated beauty thereof.”
“Some time shortly after I came to know this path I began to take regular excursions to enjoy its tranquility, inwardly somewhat anxious because of a certain expectation. My destination was a place along the path, within a cedar grove, where a cool breeze constantly flowed down the path, as though coming from an ice house. A single old water pipeline made of bamboo trunks ran down from the shadowy interior. If I listened carefully I could hear a quiet murmur within. How I anticipated that sound of water.”
"I keep walking but only begin to pay attention once more as the lake shimmers forth over green foliage, over the still, silent crests of fir trees; I think, “That is my lake, to which I must go, drawing me to itself.” In what manner it draws me, and why it draws me, the gentle reader will himself soon discover should he muster the interest to continue following my description, which now takes the liberty to bypass all the ways, wastes, woods, waters, and fields to arrive at the small lake itself, where it stops, right beside me, unable to marvel enough at the lake’s surprising, only secretly suspected beauty."
“Shortly after I first discovered the mountain track I found myself, filled with a kind of pensive anticipation, choosing this path over and over again, just to enjoy its tranquility. My destination was a spot where cool air, like that from an icehouse, constantly streamed down from the cedars and traveled along the path. There a long, weathered bamboo pipe ran down from within the gloomy shadows. Listening closely I could hear the faintest murmur deep within the pipe. I always looked forward to that sound of water.”
Nationality: Swiss Illness: anxiety and hallucinations
Robert Walser emerged as a
writer of note widely admired by the likes of Kafka, Hesse, Musil and
Zweig. Mental illness haunted him throughout his life, however, and he spent the final three decades in an asylum. He wrote several novels and a large body of short lyrical fiction.
Nationality: Japanese Illness: tuberculosis
Kajii Motojiro was a promising young writer, admired by contemporaries, whose life was cut short by TB just
as Japan entered into the militarism leading up to
WWII. Well versed in Western and Japanese literature,
he wrote evocative short fiction and is best known for his profound, lyrical novella
.
Kajii auf Deutsch:
「桜の木の下には」 “Unter den Kirschbäumen”
Du musst es glauben. Na ja, sonst könntest Du unmöglich glauben, daß Kirschbäume so schön blühen könnten. Ich war in den letzten zwei oder drei Tagen verstimmt gewesen, weil ich nicht an einer solchen Schönheit glauben konnte.
Aber jetzt habe ich es endlich verstanden: Es sind Körper unter den Kirschbäumen begraben.
“Musik”
Walser auf Japanisch:
「音楽」
ピアノはぼくにこの上もなく魅惑的な調べを聞かせてくれる 。 たとえつ
たない弾き手がそれを弾くときも 。 ぼくは演奏を聞くのではない 、 ただ
調べを聞くだけだ 。 ぼくは決して演奏家にはなれない 。 というのも 、
どんなに演奏しても 、 まだ甘美さや陶酔が足りないと思うだろうから 。
聞きいることの方が 、 もっと浄らかなことなのだ 。 音楽はいつもぼくを
物悲しい気分にする 。
Assistance from Jacob Valentine, Alison Romano, Jennifer
Pollei, and the Brigham Young University College of
Humanities.
801-422-5225