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/lit/ - Literature

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20596735 No.20596735 [Reply] [Original]

Which translation of Tale of Genji should I read? Borges said that anyone who claimed to love his work also needs to read Genji, so I'm taking him up on his challenge. However, Borges read the Waley translation, which, whilst poetic and lyrical, is apparently quite a far cry away from the original. That is, the rape and homoerotiscm is toned down considerably, and a good deal of the historical setting is obscured or sacrificed. On the other hand, I've heard Tyler's sacrifices any notion of lyricism for a very academic translation. His is preferred for students of Japanese literature for this reason.

If anyone has suggestions for translations I'd be very grateful. Oh, and inb4 larpers tell me to 'just learn Heian Japanese'. Many thanks.

>> No.20596887

>>20596735
well, I've that edition, and maybe he toned down the lyricism, but it's not gone.

>> No.20598029

It was the first novel ever written, and it was written by a pampered, insulated courtesan who basically knew nothing other than the ludicrous fantasies shared by her and her clique of spoiled bitches. Stop pretending it's literature. It's a bookshelf of grocery-store romance novels.

>> No.20598146

>>20598029
Thank God we have your opinion here to save us from being misguided by the erroneous judgments of this "Borges" guy, I bet he was a hack anyway.

>> No.20598422
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20598422

>>20596735
Seidensticker.

>> No.20598443

>>20596735
Tyler.

>> No.20598455

Waley is great as an introduction to the story, its an incomplete and very liberal translation but still a great read.
For more scholarly translations, most likely whatever was the most recent scholastic translation is best; Murasaki's court writing is extremely eclectic and bears little resemblance to modern Japanese.

>> No.20598600

>>20598146
And thank you for taking my bait.

>> No.20598638

>>20598029
Sounds like these bratty little courtesans need rape correction

>> No.20598668

>>20598638
It's called "corrective rape" and the only reason feminist lesbians fear it so much is they know it works.

>> No.20598955

>>20598638
Genji commits rape multiple times.

>> No.20599008
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20599008

>>20596735
>Japan's great novel is about a nobleman going around screwing lots of women (and one boy)
um, based?

>> No.20599522

>>20596735
i liked the tyler translation, the footnotes cover the minutiae of the heian court in great detail and it was fairly easy to keep the characters straight

>> No.20599532

>>20599008
>literally a harem anime
you can't make this up

>> No.20599542

I want to be a samurai, what else should I read beside hagakure? I've watched every kurosawa kino already

>> No.20599546

>>20599542
get an older male lover

>> No.20599550

>>20599546
I have a twink already

>> No.20599553
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20599553

>>20599550
based

>> No.20599730

>>20599522
Nice. How would you describe the prose? Is it dry, stilted? or does Tyler preserve (as best as possible) the elliptic beauty of Murasaki's sentence structure?

>> No.20599732

>>20596735
Meme book, don't read

>> No.20600987

>>20599730
>the elliptic beauty of Murasaki's sentence structure
When pseuds are saying shit like this you know the book is garbage.

>> No.20601064

>>20600987
imagine being this much of a snowflake faggot holy kek ywngtmi

>> No.20602120

>>20601064
Yeah that's what I'm saying.

I hope you agree and weren't talking about me becuase I'm rubber and you're glue and that would turn out bad for you.

>> No.20602346

>>20596735
>>20598029
It's so funny because within a few pages it's insanely clear it was written by a woman. The whole first chapter is about a bunch of women scheming over who gets to fuck the Emperor.

Also is there really that much homoeroticism? I think Genji only fucks one boy.

>> No.20602375

Tale of Genji only seems worth reading if you want erotic literature or historical context of the era (or earlier, it's described as a very nostalgic book referring to the past in a very positive light).

>> No.20602394

The only literature this board can understand is Dostoesvky lol, or Joyce because of how le epic the prose is. No point in the majority of this board reading older literature.

>> No.20602407

>>20602346
Most of the homoeroticism is other guys talking about how hot Genji is and how much they wish he was girl so they could marry him.

>> No.20602985

>>20602375
Genji has many great waka poems scattered throughout it.