JAPANESE LITERATURE PUBLISHING AND PROMOTION CENTER
J-LIT SYMPOSIUM 2009
Symposium Report: Buddhism and Literary Translation
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The summary report is just published on a Buddhism and Literary Translation symposium held on November 28, 2009. Keynote speakers Sokyu Gen’yu and Jean-Noël Robert offered profound commentary on Buddhistic “self” and issues in scripture translation. In the panel discussion that followed, joined by Corinne Quentin, the translator of Flowers in Limbo (Chūin no hana), broad topics including translation, language, religion, and literature were vigorously discussed.
With comprehensive coordination by Prof. Kosaku Maeda, this report describes the significance of translation from cultural and historical perspectives.
The report is in Japanese.
Symposium Outline
DATE: Saturday, 28 November 2009
VENUE: Lecture Hall, the Nippon Foundation
Part 1: Keynote Address
Buddhistic ‘Self’ and ‘Buddhahood Attainment’ in Chūin no hana (Flowers in Limbo) and Aburakusasu no matsuri (Abraxas Festival)
(Photo: Fumitaka Higashikozono)
Sokyu Gen’yu
Chief priest of Fukuju Temple, Myoshinji Temple sect of Rinzai-zen, and novelist.
Won the 125th Akutagawa Award for Chūin no hana (Flowers in Limbo) in 2001.
Won the 68th Bungei Shunju Reader’s Prize for Hannya Shingyo—Inochi no taiwa (dialogue on life), an exchange of letters with Keiko Yanagisawa in the 2006 December issue of Bungei Shunju magazine.
Nominated for the 34th Kawabata-Yasunari Literary Prize in 2008 for A.D.L. (Activities of Daily Living) published in the 2007 September issue of Bungakukai.
Chūin no hana was translated and published in French (Au-delà des terres infinies) and Aburakusasu no matsuri in German (Das Fest des Abraxas).
His latest novel is Ashura.
Website：www.genyu-sokyu.com
Scriptures Beyond the Boundaries of Culture: the Dilemma of Religion and Translation
Jean-Noël Robert
Professor of L'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Member of Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Letters, Institut de France; Currently, Visiting Professor at the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies.
Won the 1988 Shibusawa-Claudel Award for his doctoral thesis on Tendai religion of the 9th century. Published Le Sûtra du lotus, the French translation of Hokekyo, which is the Chinese translation by Kumārajīvain, in 1997. Published Petite histoire du bouddhisme, a separate volume of a magazine, Nouvel Observateur, which triggered Buddhism boom in France with over 100,000 copies sold. He has also published La Centurie du Lotus — Poèmes de Jien（2008) and works in Japanese such as Kokorono ‘tera’ wo miru (Perceiving the ‘Temple’ in One’s Heart) — Buddhism as Seen by a French Scholar of Buddhism (1995).
Part 2: Panel Discussion
Panelists: Sokyu Gen’yu, Jean-Noël RobertCorinne Quentin (French translator of Au-delà des terres infinies, and Representative of French Copyright Office in Japan)
Coordinator: Kosaku Maeda (Director-General, Institute for the Studies of the Culture of Afghanistan)
Support: The Asahi Shimbun Company, The Japan P.E.N. Club, The Embassy of France in Japan
Sponsors: Tokyo Club
Commemorative Organization for the Japan World Fair '70
Inquiry
Contact: Ako Sahara, Kyoko KojimaJapanese Literature Publishing and Promotion Center (J-Lit Center)