2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
TRANSLATION & RETELLINGS IN MODERN JAPAN AND THE SPECULATION OF THE PROSPECTIVE READERS CONSCIOUSNESS-ESTABLISHING THE CANONS OF CHILDRENS LITERATURE
Project/Area Number |
09610549
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
文学一般(含文学論・比較文学)・西洋古典
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Research Institution | CHIBA UNIVERSITY |
Principal Investigator |
SATO Motoko CHIBA UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, 教育学部, 助教授 (40162490)
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Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 2000
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Keywords | children's literature / translation / retelling / adaptation / rewriting / reader / masterpiece / series |
Research Abstract |
1 There are two main aims of this research : one is to acquire a general grasp of the translations and retellings appeared in newspapers or magazines of Meiji Era ; the other is to pursue the translation of some major pieces of children's literature through the retellings from Meiji to present day. 2(1) Several masterpieces of modern Western literature were confirmed as the sources of the canon of the children's literature in Japan. Many Japanese translators and adapters thought that their works were the essential informations and the meaningful contributions to children's formative years. (2) It is after the World War II that the publications of some major series among which were included many famous Western literature both for adults and children reached widely to Japanese young people by translations and retellings. Main series of those days are such as "Iwanami Shonen Bunko" by Iwanami Shoten, "Sekai Meisaku Zenshu" by Kodansha and so on. Through this research was discovered that the taboo such as on death or money introduced by the various translators and adapters has continued to be present as late as in 1990's. Examples are seen in Treasure Island by R.L.Stevenson and A Dog of Flanders by Ouida. 3 The issues of gender, or high/low-culture can be another effective strategic point of view in the analysis of children's literature, in its transition by translation and adaptation.
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