Received some books from home. Among them are Freezing Point and its sequel by Japanese author Ayako Miura, which were published in 1964 and 1970, respectively.
These were perhaps the first translated Japanese fiction I had ever read. Back then I knew nothing about translation or literary studies, and fell in love with these books because they tell good, beautiful stories. But they left a very deep impression on me, the themes such as the “original sin” and forgiveness both fascinating and puzzling.
Decades later, as I re-read these books, my attention is drawn to issues such as cover designs between different editions, promotional materials by different publishers, and the subtle variations in translation choices and styles between different translators. Occasionally I can even imagine a different approach to translating a certain sentence or phrase that I would take myself. Not in terms of translating from Japanese to Chinese, but regarding how to structure the expression of a certain notion or idea in Chinese.
Not every writer can be a translator, but a translator has to be a writer for a start. Whatever language in which a literary work was originally written, the sole purpose of a translation is to allow the resulting text to read like it was written for you in your own language in the first place.
Anyway, the images here show the covers of three different Traditional Chinese editions of Ayako Miura’s Freezing Point. They certainly inspire me to check out the English edition of the book.
(Day 33 #WarmWinterRead #WWR25 via @librarieschangelives)
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 