As a native Japanese speaker, I'm happy to see our literature introduced to other countries. But I also feel conflicted. The original Japanese of the first poem is: おほけなき床の錦や散り紅葉 The translation on the site: > I am not worthy > of this crimson carpet: > autumn maple leaves. This contains the translator's interpretation, and the sound and intonation are completely lost. I admire the translator's effort, but I want vis…
This is the general problem with literature and poetry especially. They're not entirely translatable. - Languages are part of culture and they are historically conditioned, making them necessarily bounded and finite [0]. While the essential thing signified may be the same for corresponding words in two languages ( snow vs. Schnee ), there is variance in semantic emphasis, connotation, and symbolic significance. In ot…
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#51True, but there is no obstacle in the way of showing the source. Especially considering how concise Japanese is. Best of both worlds. Fascinating discussion in this whole thread.