文学. Japanese language as used in literature.
Questions tagged [literature]
57 questions
13
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1 answer
How to translate ‘To be or not to be, that is the question’
This is not a 100% serious question, but I find it interesting. How could we translate in Japanese the famous sentence from Hamlet? The absence of be as a verb makes it challenging.
I saw the following translation on a Japanese…
user14602
9
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3 answers
In Akutagawa's writing, would 誰 have been pronounced たれ or だれ?
I found this dramatic reading of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's 羅生門, in which the performer reads 誰 consistently as たれ.
Is this correct for the time period? I know that 誰 has old readings resembling た/たれ such as 誰がために鐘はなる, but when did readings beginning in…
jogloran
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8
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How do Japanese make language sound old (e. g. in historical dramas)?
When English speakers try to make a text sound old (like in historical dramas), they for example use "thou" together with the "-st" verb ending.
What's the equivalent in Japanese, i.e. what kind of old fashioned grammar and vocabulary are used in…
Dominik
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7
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Is there a term for the rhetorical rephrasing of e.g. "良子はエビ天にかぶりつく。" into "エビ天にかぶりつく良子。”?
Here is an excerpt from a novel, AURA〜魔竜院光牙最後の闘い〜 by 田中ロミオ; note the sentence in bold.
やがて盆に乗った天もりが二人前やってくる。反射的に炸裂した良子の手づかみを阻止し、箸を持たせた。
「非論理的工具」
「うるさいなー。みんな頑張って慣れたんだよ」
悪戦苦闘しながらも、そばには目もくれずにエビ天にかぶりつく良子。…
kini
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6
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What is なく doing in this sentence?
While reading the light novel for 君の名は I came across this sentence in the first chapter:
私は大切な誰かと隙間なくぴったりとくっついている。
Is using なく here equivalent to using ないで or does it have a different meaning altogether?
doctor_n_
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5
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1 answer
4
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Meaning of いいように and はからう in a certain context
I am reading the book 鵺の家 by 廣嶋玲子, and I have a question about the usage of the phrases いいように and はからう in the following.
兄達に無性に会いたくなった。巣篭りのお役目が無事におわったら、燕堂に里帰りをお願いしてみよう。兄達の休暇が終わるまで、沖野家に戻っていていいように、はからってもらおう。楽しい想像に、ようやく気分が高揚してきた。
My translation…
Shimrod
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4
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「狡そうな眼」は悪くない意味もありますか
From what I’ve found in a few dictionaries,「狡い」has a negative meaning, like “crafty, sly”, and also “unfair” (In Jp-Jp, it appears related to negative actions like ごまかす). However, in this short story, such a meaning doesn’t make sense to me. Can the…
polygokko
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4
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1 answer
Trouble understanding small bits of poetry in a Japanese novel
Recently, I bought my first Japanese novel to improve my reading skills. The novel itself uses a modern, very simple grammar (it's Ningen no kouta by Kō Machida) so it's not hard to understand. However the text also showcases a few lines of poetry…
goradora
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4
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Is the main character's wife cheating on him in these sentences in Osamu Dazai's 「人間失格」
Context:
自分の部屋の上の小窓があいていて、そこから部屋の中が見えます。電気がついたままで、二匹の動物がいました。
自分は、ぐらぐら目まいしながら、これもまた人間の姿だ、これもまた人間の姿だ、おどろく事は無い、など劇しい呼吸と共に胸の中で呟き、ヨシ子を助ける事も忘れ、階段に立ちつくしていました。
The main character is looking at the window of his room and he sees something(he's…
vadasambar
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4
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Trouble with a small excerpt from Tanizaki's Himitsu
I'm having some trouble understanding the following excerpt (from Tanizaki's Himitsu):
甘い匂いのひやひやとした露が、毛穴へ染み入る皮膚のよろこびは格別であった
"The sweet scented and chilly dew" does what? "the delight of the skin that penetrated the pores was exceptional"? Help me!…
Yuji
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4
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1 answer
Why is the Japanese title of Dante's "Divine Comedy" 『神曲』?
Dante's The Divine Comedy (whose English title appears to basically be the same as the original Italian title, Divina Commedia) is titled in Japanese 『神曲』. Why is this? Naturally, translations need not be literal, but a title meaning roughly "The…
senshin
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3
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Which noun is described by 大きな and 滑か in 「真珠貝は大きな滑かな縁の鋭い貝であった」
Is it 縁 or 貝? I have consulted two translations, and they both make different choices.
The shell was big and smooth and sharp-edged. (Breaking into Japanese Literature; trans. Giles Murray)
The shell was sharp, with a long, gently curved edge.…
polygokko
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3
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1 answer
「娘と祖父の記憶とを連れて」の「とを」はどう言う意味
「とを」はどういう意味でしょうか。タイポですか？
In this short story, the narrator is describing the moment he first fell in love, and how it helped him remember why he has the habit of staring at people’s faces (the reason being he developed that habit while living with…
polygokko
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3
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1 answer
Word Order: topic plug
恋愛と結婚は別のものと彼女は考えていた。
“she believed that love and marriage were different
things” (Read Real Japanese)
It took me a minute to understand what's going on (I'm a beginner). It's a delight to see the topic of the main sentence (in bold) to be…
rych
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