Three Hybrid Japanese Joyceans: Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Sei Ito and Haruki Murakami

( Eishiro Ito ) 한국제임스조이스학회 2012 제임스조이스저널 Vol.18 No.2

In Japan, many novelists, especially naturalistic writers, have struggled to show their originality and have written novels dealing with the author`s private life or using autobiographical details since the early twentieth century. In Japan, since the introduction of Joyce by Yonejiro Noguchi in 1918, many ambitious novelists, including the first Korean modernist writer Taewon Park, were influenced by Joyce`s innovative narrative technique, styles and methods of Modernism while they also learned how to write fictions with the autobiographical elements from him. Akutagawa left a memorandum in which he confessed how he was shocked with Joyce`s narrative method used in the first chapter of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Ito began to struggle to translate the whole text of Ulysses into Japanese soon after reading it. Probably their reactions to Joyce`s works were not unusual for Japanese novelists at that time. Haruki Murakami is different from the two precursors in that reading Japanese translations of foreign novels affected his style in Japanese. Japanese Joycean writers have learned or borrowed some literary techniques from Marcel Proust and Joyce; especially, the interior monologue and the stream-of- consciousness. However, none of the three Japanese writers seem to have succeeded to use those techniques. It is noted that both Akutagawa and Ito were influenced by Irish literature, characteristically first by Yeats` poetry and then by Joyce`s novels. Both learned Romantic poetry and then transitioned to write fictions starting autobiographical novels like Joyce. Although Murakami has a more complicated literary background than these two writers, he is also influenced by Proust and nineteenth-century European writers as well as American hard-boiled writers. For these three hybrid Japanese writers, James Joyce is a very provocative writer. They enthusiastically learned Western literature and tried to compound the elements of traditional Japanese literature and Western literature to create their hybrid literature.

Two Japanese Translations of Finnegans Wake Compared : Yanase (1991-1993) and Miyata (2004)

Ito, Eishiro 한국제임스조이스학회 2004 제임스조이스저널 Vol.10 No.2

This paper aims to introduce and examine two Japanese translations of Finnegans Wake which has been considered to be "untranslatable" or one of the most difficult books to translate. But now we can enjoy it in many languages--Franch, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, etc. The basic language of FW is doubtlessly English, and most of the dominant languages are European. Naoki Yanase, the Japanese translator was challenged to complete his translation into Japanese (1991-1993). Of course some of the rich ambiguity of the original may have been lost, but he made a great effort to convey the atmosphere and tone of the original: he even translated "Joyce's style" into Japanese. Yanase's translation is a novel in its own right and a great masterpiece of Japanese literature. In June 2004, another translator, Kyoko Niyata, published a more readable Japanese translation of FW. Her abridged translation (about half the size of the original) with her detailed notes, is much more understandable than Yanase's, and plays another role for prospective Japanese readers. Comparing these two Japanese translations, we can understand these two effective methods to convey the ambiguities of Joycean words in Finnegans Wake in translation.

Journey to the Far East: Reading Joyce in the Jesuit Context Featuring St. Francis Xavier

( Eishiro Ito ) 한국제임스조이스학회 2010 제임스조이스저널 Vol.16 No.2

This paper aims to reconsider how the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) influenced James Joyce and his works, especially focusing on the society`s missionary work in the Far East. St. Francis Xavier reached Japan on August 15, 1549 and proselytized there until November 1551. He died of fever in December 3, 1552 in Shangchuan Island, China. After Xavier`s death many Jesuits were engaged in missionary activities to Japan between 1549 and 1644 and to China between 1579 and 1724. The Jesuits introduced Western science, astronomy and arts to Asian countries, while they were very active in conveying Asian knowledge and philosophy to Europe. Joyce went to two Jesuit secondary schools, Clongowes Wood College (est. 1814) and Belvedere College (est. 1832; also known as St. Francis Xavier`s College). Indisputably the Jesuit education affected Joyce in his formative years. The life of St. Francis Xavier was highlighted in Chapter III of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in which the retreat at Belvedere College is described. In Ulysses Leopold Bloom lives at 7 Eccles Street, that is, within 5 minutes` walk from Belvedere College at 6 Great Denmark Street and Saint Francis Xavier Church at 38 Upper Gardiner Street. It is St. Francis Xavier or the Society of Jesus that initially connected James Joyce with East Asia. It will be our common responsibility to correlate Joyce`s works with the Far East further.

2006 International Issue : Articles from the 2006 International Conference on the East-Asian Reception of James Joyce, Seoul ; "United States of Asia" (VI.B.3.073): A Postcolonial Reception of James Joyce and Japan

( Eishiro Ito ) 한국제임스조이스학회 2006 제임스조이스저널 Vol.12 No.2

This article aims to introduce the general attitude regarding Japan/world affairs in Joyce`s time, and to argue on Joyce`s reception of Japan in his works and the Japanese reception of Joyce from a postcolonial perspective. In a letter to his brother Stanislaus on November 6, 1906 James Joyce showed his interest in Japan`s military power at that time: "Japan, the first naval power in the world, I presume, in point of efficiency, spends three million pounds per annum on her fleet" (L II,188). His comment reflects Japanese victories of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Joyce found it rather naive to heap insults on England for her misdeeds in Ireland: "A conqueror cannot be casual, and for so many centuries the Englishman has done in Ireland only what the Belgian is doing today in the Congo Free State, and what the Nipponease dwarf will do tomorrow in other lands" (CW 166). Joyce directly or directly referred to the three Asian wars; the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars and the Russo-Japanese War in his texts. The casus belli of those wars was desire for colonies, Manchuria and Korea. It seems that Joyce regarded Korea as an equivalent to his native country Ireland. Joyce`s angle on the Japanese Empire seems rather ironic. At first Joyce and other Irish people thought it good that a minor Asian country like Japan defeated one of the Great Powers. However, as Japan began to devote itself to imperialism, they were deceived in their expectation. Joyce did not stand for imperialism nor colonialism. Joyce would also have found it rather naive to heap insults on Japan for her misdeeds in Korea and China. It will depend on us Asians as to whether Joyce`s idea of the "United States of Asia" or Sun Yat-sen`s Pan-Asianism will come true in the twenty-first century.

Orienting Orientalism in Ulysses

Eishiro Ito 한국제임스조이스학회 2008 제임스조이스저널 Vol.14 No.2

This paper aims to discuss how Orientalism is described in Ulysses. Bloom has a Hungarian Jewish background, although he was born and raised up in Dublin. Hungary is often described as the country built up as a powerful empire by the Asian leader Attila the Hun in the early fifth century. According to the Bible, the early ancestors of Jews had lived as tillers of the soil or nomads around Mesopotamia were took away to Egypt as slaves, and settled in Israel experiencing the Babylonian captivity until the Roman Diaspora. Also, some people have believed that the Celts originally came from Central Asia. Bloom has multiple Asian aspects, although all of his Asian elements are subtle and impalpable. Joyce occasionally refers throughout Ulysses to the Mirus Bazaar hosted by the viceroy Earl of Dudley in aid of funds for Mercer’s hospital to add an Oriental mood for the novel. In “Calypso” and “Lotus Eaters” Bloom’s Orientaiism is featured following F. D. Thompson’s In the Track of the Sun. Under the British rule Ireland had a two-sided attitude toward the Orient from a postcolonial perspective. Bloom’s point of view also seems inconsistent with the Orient throughout the novel. Referring to Edward Said’s Orientalism and Joseph Lennon’s Irish Orientalism, Bloom’s ambivalence about the Orient is examined. Bloom’s ambivalence about the Orient is rooted in his ambiguous “Asian” background. Bloom thinks of the Orient as an Orientalist who escapes from the reality and fantasizes of being in some Oriental place. However, he also notices: “Probably not a bit like it really. Kind of stuff you read: in the track of the sun” (U 4.99-100). Irish-Oriental connections no longer hold academic credibility. However, Irish Orientalists including Joyce used some Oriental motifs and elements in their works as a literary device or as a mode of modernism to express their complex cultural identity. This paper aims to discuss how Orientalism is described in Ulysses. Bloom has a Hungarian Jewish background, although he was born and raised up in Dublin. Hungary is often described as the country built up as a powerful empire by the Asian leader Attila the Hun in the early fifth century. According to the Bible, the early ancestors of Jews had lived as tillers of the soil or nomads around Mesopotamia were took away to Egypt as slaves, and settled in Israel experiencing the Babylonian captivity until the Roman Diaspora. Also, some people have believed that the Celts originally came from Central Asia. Bloom has multiple Asian aspects, although all of his Asian elements are subtle and impalpable. Joyce occasionally refers throughout Ulysses to the Mirus Bazaar hosted by the viceroy Earl of Dudley in aid of funds for Mercer’s hospital to add an Oriental mood for the novel. In “Calypso” and “Lotus Eaters” Bloom’s Orientaiism is featured following F. D. Thompson’s In the Track of the Sun. Under the British rule Ireland had a two-sided attitude toward the Orient from a postcolonial perspective. Bloom’s point of view also seems inconsistent with the Orient throughout the novel. Referring to Edward Said’s Orientalism and Joseph Lennon’s Irish Orientalism, Bloom’s ambivalence about the Orient is examined. Bloom’s ambivalence about the Orient is rooted in his ambiguous “Asian” background. Bloom thinks of the Orient as an Orientalist who escapes from the reality and fantasizes of being in some Oriental place. However, he also notices: “Probably not a bit like it really. Kind of stuff you read: in the track of the sun” (U 4.99-100). Irish-Oriental connections no longer hold academic credibility. However, Irish Orientalists including Joyce used some Oriental motifs and elements in their works as a literary device or as a mode of modernism to express their complex cultural identity.

Articles from the 2008 International conference on "Glocalizing Joyce: The East Asian & Other Perspectives," Seoul : Orienting Orientalism in Ulysses

Eishiro Ito 한국제임스조이스학회 2008 제임스조이스저널 Vol.14 No.2

This paper aims to discuss how Orientalism is described in Ulysses. Bloom has a Hungarian Jewish background, although he was born and raised up in Dublin. Hungary is often described as the country built up as a powerful empire by the Asian leader Attila the Hun in the early fifth century. According to the Bible, the early ancestors of Jews had lived as tillers of the soil or nomads around Mesopotamia were took away to Egypt as slaves, and settled in Israel experiencing the Babylonian captivity until the Roman Diaspora. Also, some people have believed that the Celts originally came from Central Asia. Bloom has multiple Asian aspects, although all of his Asian elements are subtle and impalpable. Joyce occasionally refers throughout Ulysses to the Mirus Bazaar hosted by the viceroy Earl of Dudley in aid of funds for Mercer`s hospital to add an Oriental mood for the novel. In "Calypso" and "Lotus Eaters" Bloom`s Orientalism is featured following F. D. Thompson`s In the Track of the Sun. Under the British rule Ireland had a two-sided attitude toward the Orient from a postcolonial perspective. Bloom`s point of view also seems inconsistent with the Orient throughout the novel. Referring to Edward Said`s Orientalism and Joseph Lennon`s Irish Orientalism, Bloom`s ambivalence about the Orient is examined. Bloom`s ambivalence about the Orient is rooted in his ambiguous "Asian" background. Bloom thinks of the Orient as an Orientalist who escapes from the reality and fantasizes of being in some Oriental place. However, he also notices: "Probably not a bit like it really. Kind of stuff you read: in the track of the sun" (U 4.99-100). Irish-Oriental connections no longer hold academic credibility. However, Irish Orientalists including Joyce used some Oriental motifs and elements in their works as a literary device or as a mode of modernism to express their complex cultural identity.

Joyce in the Machine/Re-Joyce in the Digital Humanities

Eishiro Ito 한국제임스조이스학회 2019 제임스조이스저널 Vol.25 No.2

The whole academic area of humanities has been facing a massive decline around the world: the number of students, their job opportunities and financial budgets have been steadily shrinking. So, in the Information Age, something must be done to improve the current situation: the digitization of the literary text to attract many more people in a more accessible way using multimedia features. Readers are required to have a wide range of background knowledge to understand the scholastic texts of James Joyce which cover Irish history, Christianity and European cultures. There have been various kinds of annotations, guidebooks and academic books about Joyce’s works in book form. Recently, numerous websites related to James Joyce have been developed in order to offer annotations and articles free of charge. James Joyce himself was very interested in the progress of technology as he described some aspects of the early twentieth-century technological culture in his literary works. Digital Joyce studies might be what the author wanted us to be engaged in. The ultimate digital Joyce tool is probably “Joycestick,” a virtual reality game developed by a Boston College team, which enables you to experience the world of Ulysses virtually.

“My Conscience is Fine as Chinese Silk”: Genetic Joyceastasian Studies

( Eishiro Ito ) 한국제임스조이스학회 2021 제임스조이스저널 Vol.27 No.2

This paper focuses on the relationship between Joyce and the Chinese elements of his works. How and to what extent did James Joyce know East Asia? When he wrote a list of forty languages used for Finnegans Wake, Chinese is listed 6th from the top, Japanese 7th (1938: JJA 63:343). Chinese and Japanese languages are doubtlessly among the minor language groups for him. Alphabetical characters represent phonemes while Chinese characters can be considered as thought-pictures describing concepts. Learning Chinese and Japanese elements would have given Joyce some opportunities to reevaluate various kinds of scripts, which encouraged him to infuse some visual effects as thought-images into Finnegans Wake. Joyce’s interest in East Asia initially arose from the Jesuit missionary activities that he learned at Jesuit schools. He read “The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry” serialized in The Little Review between September and December, 1919. It was written by Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound. His “Orientalism” was gradually developed with his daughter Lucia who had been interested in Chinese and Japanese art since the mid-1920s. As The James Joyce Archive and other manuscripts reveal, many words and phrases related to China were inserted into Ulysses after The Little Review serialization. Joyce made similar late insertions in Finnegans Wake. Joyce also wrote a memo under the subject heading “Chinese” while finalizing Finnegans Wake in 1938 (JJA 40:152-53; VI.B.46-47-48). Inserting Chinese elements at the finishing stage, Joyce successfully made his alphabetic texts more revolutionary.

"United States of Asia"(VI.B.3.073): A Postcolonial Reception of James Joyce and Japan

Eishiro Ito 한국제임스조이스학회 2006 제임스조이스저널 Vol.12 No.2

"United States of Asia" (VI. B.3.073):A Postcolonial Reception of James Joyce and Japan Eishiro Ito This article aims to introduce the general attitude regarding Japan/world affairs in Joyce's time, and to argue on Joyce's reception of Japan in his works and the Japanese reception of Joyce from a postcolonial perspective.In a letter to his brother Stanislaus on November 6, 1906 James Joyce showed his interest in Japan's military power at that time: "Japan, the first naval power in the world, I presume, in point of efficiency, spends three million pounds per annum on her fleet" (L II,188). His comment reflects Japanese victories of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).Joyce found it rather nave to heap insults on England for her misdeeds in Ireland: "A conqueror cannot be casual, and for so many centuries the Englishman has done in Ireland only what the Belgian is doing today in the Congo Free State, and what the Nipponease dwarf will do tomorrow in other lands" (CW 166).Joyce directly or directly referred to the three Asian wars; the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars and the Russo-Japanese War in his texts. The casus belli of those wars was desire for colonies, Manchuria and Korea. It seems that Joyce regarded Korea as an equivalent to his native country Ireland. Joyce's angle on the Japanese Empire seems rather ironic. At first Joyce and other Irish people thought it good that a minor Asian country like Japan defeated one of the Great Powers. However, as Japan began to devote itself to imperialism, they were deceived in their expectation. Joyce did not stand for imperialism nor colonialism. Joyce would also have found it rather nave to heap insults on Japan for her misdeeds in Korea and China. It will depend on us Asians as to whether Joyce's idea of the "United States of Asia" or Sun Yat-sen's Pan-Asianism will come true in the twenty-first century.

Joyce and Salinger: A Study of Their References to Buddhism

( Eishiro Ito ) 한국제임스조이스학회 2015 제임스조이스저널 Vol.21 No.2

This paper intends to compare James Joyce with J. D. Salinger focusing on their references to Oriental religions, particularly Buddhism in their works. Needless to say, James Joyce was a European writer and J. D. Salinger was an American writer. They never met each other and there was almost no direct relationship in which one influenced the other. However, the two writers had Irish Catholic connections while they were familiar with Judaism. Both felt a sense of not belonging to the church (or synagogue) and approached (Zen) Buddhism and Hinduism. They did not regard Buddhism as a religion: Joyce thought it as “a suave philosophy” to avoid wars and conflicts, and Salinger found a similarity between the act of writing and Zen practice on the quest for enlightenment. In short, Salinger tried to describe “the sound of one-hand clapping” or the sudden enlightenment in Zen [Chan] Buddhism, or in Joyce`s term, the moment of “epiphany.” Asian readers should attempt to analyze English literature from various Asian perspectives. Then we will find a significance of studying English literature in East Asia, and will be able to contribute to develop it glocally.