ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 examines the relationship between Japanese literature and the growing scholarly interest that has promoted and redefined “world literature” since the mid-1990s. This enquiry begins by defining what a “trans-border turn” in the mid-2000s during which “trans-border literature” emerged as an object of critical significance within Japanese literary circle. Although in contemporary usage, “trans-border” describes texts that are multilingual and transnational, this chapter traces the history of this term to reveal its origins in postcolonial studies that are now overlooked. The middle sections then read a pair of essays published by Iwanami Shoten in 1954 that offer helpful insights for unpacking the contemporary terrain. These essays also foreground literary translation as a possible means of healing that endorses the importance of literary translation as a source of soft power, and thus, why it is desirable for Japanese literature to gain recognition within “world literature” today.
