ABSTRACT
On 11 February 2008, Yomiuri Shinbun (Yomiuri Newspaper) ran an editorial titled “The Tale of Genji: A Masterpiece of World Literature Turns 1000.”2 “This, surely, is a masterpiece worthy of the ‘World Heritage’ name,” the article begins, then runs through some of the usual reasons why: “it is said to be ‘the world’s oldest novel’”; “we tend to think of it as a love story [ren’ai shōsetsu] centered on Hikaru Genji, but it’s actually a very profound work”; “scholars have pointed out that if The Tale of Genji hadn’t been written, Japanese literary history and the traditional aesthetics of the Japanese people would have followed vastly different courses.” The commonplaces continue as, halfway into the text, the topic turns to translation. “Few today read the original, no doubt. But we can experience the work’s charms through numerous translations into modern Japanese by writers such as Yosano Akiko, Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, Enchi Fumiko, and Setouchi Jakuchō.” And, of course, as the author of the piece notes, through translations into other media – manga and Takarazuka productions, for instance – or, for foreigners, into various foreign languages.
