Adaptions of Western Literature in Meiji Japan

Download or read book Adaptions of Western Literature in Meiji Japan written by J. Miller and published by Springer. This book was released on 2001-12-06 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines three examples of late nineteenth-century Japanese adaptations of Western literature: a biography of U.S. Grant recasting him as a Japanese warrior, a Victorian novel reset as oral performance, and an American melodrama redone as a serialized novel promoting the reform of Japanese theater. Written from a comparative perspective, it argues that adaptation (hon'an) was a valid form of contemporary Japanese translation that fostered creative appropriation across many genres and among a diverse group of writers and artists. In addition, it invites readers to reconsider adaptation in the context of translation theory.