Heian Japan rewritten: the translations and adaptations of Taketori monogatari

Montón Gómez, Rafael

Heian Japan rewritten: the translations and adaptations of Taketori monogatari

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Montón Gómez, R. Heian Japan rewritten: the translations and adaptations of Taketori monogatari. 2023. handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57801

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Abstract

The Taketori monogatari is a Heian period (794–1185) tale about an old bamboo cutter and the princess from the Moon he raises with his wife. The story is one of Japan’s earliest and most iconic tales that have survived until our days. While it enjoys canonical status in its native literary system, the same tale, mediated by a number of translations and film adaptations, has had varying levels of impact in Spain. The aim of this paper is to study these rewritings exercises, combining tools from Translation Studies and Adaptation Studies as kindred disciplines in order to characterise the contemporary cultural circulation of classical literature between Japan and Spain, and shed light on how each translated version compares to the rest of the textual network. Some of the most recurrent points of contention between selected texts include their varying level of foreignisation and approach to intertextuality, which influence the interpretation of the tale championed by each product. In this regard, the rewritings of the Taketori monogatari available in Spanish comprise a diverse collection whose translation choices are guided by factors as target audience, medium and type of edition.