Degree Project

Level: Bachelor’s

Mori Ōgai and the translation of Henrik Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman

Author: Gard R. Rise

Supervisor: Hiroko Inose

Examiner: Herbert Jonsson

Subject/main field of study: Japanese

Course code: GJP23Y

Credits: 15

Date of examination: September 6, 2019

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Abstract: Mori Ōgai’s (1862-1922) 1909 translation and the subsequent theater production of Henrik Ibsen’s 1896 play John Gabriel Borkman was in many ways instrumental in the formation of Japanese Meiji-era shingeki theater. Through his career as a translator, Ōgai’s translation approach shifted from one of decreasingly relying on domestication techniques to staying more faithful to the source text through use of foreignization techniques and arguably towards what has been identified by Eugene Nida and Jin Di as dynamical equivalence or equivalent effect, respectively, in drama translation. In this project, Ōgai’s translation of John Gabriel Borkman is examined using a set of categories peculiar to drama translation, as proposed by Chinese scholars Xu and Cui (2011), again based on the theories of Nida and Di. The categories are intelligibility, brevity, characterization and actability. The results from the analysis are used to do a qualitative analysis of Ōgai’s approach to drama translation. Results from the study indicate that Ōgai put large emphasis on the intelligibility of the play, and perhaps over the aspects of brevity, characterization and actability. However, wherever the brevity aspect seems not to be in violation of any of the other aspects, Ōgai seems to have tried to adhere as close as possible to the source texts in terms of speaking length.

Keywords:

Ōgai Mori, Henrik Ibsen, John Gabriel Borkman, drama translation, dynamic equivalence, equivalent effect.

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Table of contents:

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Aim of study and research question ................................................................................................................................................... 5

2. Background ............................................................................................................................................................ 5

2.1 Mori Ōgai .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

2.2 Ōgai and Western ideas in Meiji Japan ............................................................................................................................................... 6

2.3 Henrik Ibsen .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

2.4 Themes of the play John Gabriel Borkman............................................................................................................................................ 7

2.5 Osanai Kaoru and shingeki theater ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

3. Relevant theory ..................................................................................................................................................... 9

3.1 Drama translation ............................................................................................................................................................................... 10

3.2 Skopos theory ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

3.3 Dynamic equivalence and equivalent effect ..................................................................................................................................... 11

3.4 Domestication and foreignization..................................................................................................................................................... 12

4. Previous research ................................................................................................................................................12

4.1 General overview ................................................................................................................................................................................ 12

4.2 Ōgai’s translations of Ibsen ............................................................................................................................................................... 13

4.3 Drama language translation ............................................................................................................................................................... 13

5. Method and Materials ........................................................................................................................................14

5.1 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

5.1.1 Evaluation of drama translation .................................................................................................................................................... 14

5.1.2 Adaptation of method to current study ............................................................................................................................................ 15

5.2 Materials ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

5.2.1 Dano-Norwegian original (1896) and the German translation (1897) ............................................................................................ 16

5.2.2 Ōgai translation (1909) ................................................................................................................................................................ 17

6. Analysis and results ............................................................................................................................................17

6.1 General observations .......................................................................................................................................................................... 17

6.2 Intelligibility ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

6.2.1 Culturally loaded terms.................................................................................................................................................................. 19

6.2.3 Underemphasis ............................................................................................................................................................................. 20

6.2.3 Politeness ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 20

6.2.4 Understanding of the ideas and themes of the play ........................................................................................................................... 21

6.3 Brevity .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21

6.3.1 Brevity and speech register .............................................................................................................................................................. 21

6.3.2 Overexplanation............................................................................................................................................................................ 22

6.3.3 Brevity and emphasis ..................................................................................................................................................................... 22

6.4 Characterization .................................................................................................................................................................................. 23

6.5 Actability .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 24

6.5.1 Actability and plot tension ............................................................................................................................................................. 24

6.5.2 Correspondence between words and action ........................................................................................................................................ 24

7. Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................25

8. Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................................................27

References ................................................................................................................................................................27

Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................................29

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1. Introduction

When Henrik Ibsen’s 1896 play John Gabriel Borkman was translated into Japanese in 1909 by Mori Ōgai1, the usual norm for play translation had been to adapt central plot elements, such as the setting, story, dialogue and characters, to a scene familiar to the intended play audience. This was done to try to facilitate audience understanding as well as to increase chances for box office success of the play and it is referred to as hon’an2 (adaptation) in Japanese terminology. As contact between Japan and the West and interest in Western culture increased in Meiji period Japan (1868-1912), however, a new theater scene was developing around the figure of Osanai Kaoru. Osanai was instrumental in developing shingeki3 theater, and according to among others Liu (412), one of the earliest and most important productions in this aspect was the 1909 production of John Gabriel Borkman by Osanai’s then newly established Jiyū Gekijō (’Free Theatre’). With this production, the translation and staging of Western drama in Japan arguably underwent a shift from an emphasis on hon’an to actual hon’yaku4 (translation) with extensive use of foreignization techniques (Liu 412). Retaining of the foreign element allowed for the ideas central to the plays to survive more intact in translation; this translation of ideas is described by, among others, Auestad (44)5.

For a drama production to be successful, several factors come into play, ranging from the talent and charisma of the actors on stage to logistic factors like costumes, props, marketing or access to a suitable theater building. However, the most important aspect is arguably the quality of the screenplay itself. Western drama presented the Japanese play directors with a potential wealth of stories, but they needed to be translated into Japanese first, and translators with sufficient knowledge in both source language and culture were not too easy to come by. However, Osanai found a translator ideally suited for the purpose in Mori Ōgai.

Active in several capacities as a novelist, poet, playwright and translator, Mori Ōgai is a very important figure in Japanese literature history. He was important in the process of introducing Western literature to Japan in the period of modernization that began with the Meiji Restoration, arguing for a responsible introduction of ideas (cf. Fessler 85). Through his knowledge of German, acquired during his extended stay in Germany 1884-1888, Ōgai was able to translate numerous German literary works. Furthermore, by using German as a proxy language, he translated several works of literature from Scandinavian authors and dramatists like H.C. Andersen, August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen. By the time Ōgai got the commission to translate Borkman from Osanai, he had already attempted a partial translation of Ibsen’s verse play Brand (Nagashima 87-88).

Besides the importance of the translation of Borkman for the development of Japanese modern theater, the translation is remarkable in itself due to it being surprisingly faithful to the original, according to several scholars, among them Nagashima (89). Issues concerning domestication and foreignization6 were certainly something Ōgai had to deal with in the translation, but furthermore, the translator would have had to pay special attention to factors having to do with the intended stage performance of the play. Unlike a play intended for printed publication only, if the play is to be staged, the translator must not only pay close heed to the literary aspects of the source text, but also the theatrical aspects (cf. Xu and Cui 46). Finally, the translator would have to bear in mind the intention of the person commissioning the task and the purpose of the translation, in line with the skopos7 of the translation.

1 The Japanese naming order (surname first) is followed for Japanese names in this thesis. However, as is the custom with pen names in Japan, Mori Ōgai is referred to as ‘Ōgai’ throughout the text. 2 翻案 (hon’an). 3 新劇(shingeki), or ’new drama’, based on the ideals of modern Western theater (cf. section 2.5). 4 翻訳 (hon’yaku). 5 See section 2.2 below. 6 See section 3.4 below. 7 The skopos theory places special emphasis on the aim or purpose of the act of translation (see section 3.2).

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1.1 Aim of study and research question

Based on the theoretical framework of Jin Di and Nida, researchers Xu and Cui (46-47) suggested looking at a set of categories central to drama translation with proper regard to their intended theatrical effect (cf. section 5.1.1) in order to properly evaluate drama translation. In this thesis, their method for drama translation evaluation is adapted to attempt to use their suggested framework to investigate Ōgai’s approach to the translation of Borkman. This will be done for reasons of better understanding Ōgai’s method of drama translation as well as to further investigate suitable methodologies for evaluating and analyzing drama translation.

Using this adapted set of categories, the aim of this study is to investigate and analyze Ōgai’s approach to the translation of John Gabriel Borkman with the subsequent theatrical production of the play in mind. A central research question may be formulated with this in regard:

To what extent was Mori Ōgai considering the theatrical aspects of drama translation in his approach to the translation of Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman?

Findings from the study might serve to improve understanding of the general nature of Ōgai’s approach to translation of Western literature as well as further develop understanding of his role in the process of introducing modern Western ideas to Japan. Finally, it is another step in the direction of further developing suitable methodologies for drama translation evaluation and analysis.

2. Background

This section provides a brief historical and contextual background of the most relevant

issues involved with the discussion of the thesis, as well as some of the central translation

theories involved. Studies of special relevance to the current thesis will be discussed in more

detail under section 4 below.

2.1 Mori Ōgai

Mori Ōgai (1862-1922) was born Mori Rintarō in Tsuwano, present-day Shimane Prefecture, as the eldest son of a doctor. He was expected to succeed his father as a physician to the local daimyō (feudal lord), and for this purpose, Ōgai received training in Dutch as a boy. Traditionally, Dutch had been the most important language in Japan in the field of medical studies, but it was later to be replaced by German. Ōgai went on to medical school in Tokyo and joined the army as a medical officer after his graduation. He had acquired some proficiency in the German language through private studies, so he was sent by the army to attend medical studies in Germany for four years, along with the contemporary practice of sending talented Japanese students abroad to study Western science and philosophy (“Mori Ōgai”).

Ōgai had acquired a keen interest in literature throughout his studies, and during his stay in Germany he had access to a great deal of Western literature. Upon returning to Japan in 1888, he went on to publish a medical journal along with writing works of fiction, among others the popular short story Maihime (1890, The Dancing Girl) that was written partly during his German stay, and based on his experiences in Germany. Besides being a publisher and writing works of fiction, he was a literature critic and translator; among his notable translation works, in addition to the play discussed in this thesis, he translated H.C. Andersen’s novel Improvisatoren under the name Sokkyō shijin (1892−94; 1897−1901). Famous novels of his include Wita sekusuarisu (1909, Vita Sexualis) Seinen (1910−11, A Youth) and Gan (1911−13, Wild Goose). As described in section 2.2 below, he was one of the advocates for introducing Western ideas to Japan in a responsible manner (“Mori Ōgai”).

https://japanknowledge-com-resources-asiaportal-info.www.bibproxy.du.se/lib/en/display/?lid=10800LT100411

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2.2 Ōgai and Western ideas in Meiji Japan The Meiji Period in Japan (1868-1912) is a period in Japanese history of great economic and

cultural development and progress, but also a period of upheaval and sometimes great conflicts of interest. The decision taken by the Meiji government to modernize Japan inevitably entailed studying foreign technology and ideas, but a debate was continuously going on between those who supported this policy and those who opposed it, sometimes vehemently. In order to study science, philosophy and language, Japanese students were sent abroad to Europe, and Ōgai had the opportunity to become one of these students through his military service. Bowring (147) even goes as far as to suggest that the possibility of studying abroad would have been one of Ōgai’s main motivations for pursuing a military career.

Upon returning to Japan, Ōgai became one of the public figures propagating for the importance of Western studies. The different standpoints of Ōgai and his younger contemporary Anesaki Chōfū (1873-1949) in this aspect and the public debate around the issue of whether Japan should embrace Western influence and ideas or not has been described by, among others, Fessler (62). She describes the differing experiences Ōgai and Chōfū had during their study in Germany, and points out that whereas Chōfū had strong reservations about Western philosophy and religion, Ōgai was a strong proponent for studying Western science, especially medical science, and culture (62-63). She maintains, though, that Ōgai had a pragmatic approach to Western learning: “The scientific advancements of the West clearly outweighed the pessimism of German philosophy, which Ōgai saw as fruitless pontification” (ibid. 90).

Hopper elaborates on the somewhat challenging position of Ōgai with respect to ideas of individuality and intellectual freedom and potential censorship by the government. She points out that Ōgai, as a representative of the state through his position in the army hierarchy, was obliged to a certain extent to be loyal to government policy, while at the same time upholding his personal principles that the individual should feel free to pursue one’s own intellectual endeavors (382-383). His position was especially troublesome when his own 1909 novel Vita Sexualis encountered state censorship, and Hopper indicates that the reaction by Ōgai to this and other acts of censorship was to “reconsider his steadfast loyalty to those in power” (388). In light of the socialist threat, real or perceived, government cracked down on left-leaning intellectuals, and although Ōgai was by no means considered a socialist, he reacted to excessive government repression of individual freedom. Hopper claims that Ōgai was looking for a way in which the order of state and the freedom of the individual could co-exist: “Ōgai expressed his concept of freedom as a freedom defined within the bounds of an orderly traditional society” (412). Hopper claims that Ōgai “had become convinced that certain fundamental perceptions within Western tradition (e.g., 'freedom and beauty') were basic to the whole process of modern development” (383).

Auestad examines the relationship between Ibsen’s and Ōgai’s ideas of individuality and individual freedom, expressed in Ōgai’s translations of Ibsen and in his novel Seinen (Youth). In line with Poulton and Nagashima8 and Hopper (above), she points to the potential disruptive message (as seen through the eyes of the Japanese authorities) of the idea of individualism and its impact on the youth (61). She points to Ōgai’s and Ibsen’s role in shaping the discourse on modernity in Meiji Japan and concludes that the ”’relationship between man and society’ was being hastily negotiated in terms of how best the concept of modernity and Japan’s destiny as a modern nation could be reconciled (63).

Poulton also links the development of modern theater with the development of individuality and the need for shingeki theater to ‘translate’ this concept of individuality to the Japanese stage:

Before modern theater as an artistic form could be born, it had to undergo a revolution in thinking, in the discovery of the individual self, in human relationships, and in attitudes toward society. Nor was it enough to put such new ideas on paper; they had to achieve concrete form on stage, with living characters faced with realistic human problems with which Japanese audiences could identify (41).

8 See section 2.4 below.

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Bowring points out that although Ōgai would have been a strong proponent of Western ideas, he would be increasingly pre-occupied with the issue of whether borrowing of Western ideas would lead to a “fatal break with the past” (148), especially in his later years. He points, for instance, out that the suicide of general Nogi following the death of the Meiji Emperor seemed to have made a profound impression on Ōgai (152). To sum up the seemingly conflicting positions Ōgai had to take in connection with circumstances in his life, Bowring concludes that:

Ōgai’s experience was one of conflict between public and private life, science and art, and Western learning and Japanese tradition, his life represents in microcosm the whole process of modernisation in Japan (157).

2.3 Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is perhaps one of the world’s most well-known dramatists. He came from a rather well-off merchant family in Skien, Norway, but had to make ends meet himself at a very young age as an apothecary’s apprentice at the age of 15 due to bankruptcy of the family merchant firm. Ibsen went to Christiania9, intending to attend university, but he ended up being drawn to the theater, and he started writing plays for the stage. At the age of 22, he managed to get his play The Burial Mound (1850) staged at the Christiania Theater with limited success. However, the following year he was appointed manager of a theater in Bergen, where he would produce, direct and write his own plays (”Henrik Ibsen”).

It was not, however, before Ibsen went abroad to Italy that his career as a dramatist really took off. Here he wrote the two great verse dramas Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867), which became very popular in his native Norway and which are still often played in his native country. He went on to Dresden in Germany in 1868 and Munich in 1875. In Munich, he wrote a series of great plays that earned him his real international breakthrough with plays like A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882) and The Wild Duck (1884). He returned to Norway in 1891, and wrote a series of what are usually referred to as the “late” plays, one of which is the subject for this thesis, John Gabriel Borkman (1896). He continued to write until he suffered a stroke in 1900 and died 1906 in Kristiania (”Henrik Ibsen”).

2.4 Themes of the play John Gabriel Borkman

John Gabriel Borkman is Ibsen’s second-to-last play to reach completion. The play was published late 1896 and performed in several world cities including Paris, London, Berlin and New York the following year. Reviews of the individual theater productions were mixed (“Henrik Ibsen’s skrifter”), but the literary reviews were generally positive. For instance, it attracted the acclaim of the famous author and literary critic Henry James, who commented after reading the Archer translation of the play in early 1897:

It is a high wonder and pleasure to welcome such splendid fruit from sap that might by now have shown something of the chill of age. Never has he juggled more gallantly with difficulty and danger than in this really prodigious John Gabriel, in which a great span of tragedy is taken between three or four persons - a trio of the grim and grizzled - in the two or three hours of a winter's evening; in which the whole thing throbs with an actability that fairly shakes us as we read […] (qtd. in Egan 365).

Themes of the play include the obvious problem of generation conflict between age and youth and the contrast between expectations that the older generation may have on the younger and the dreams and aspirations of youth. The four older characters in the play all have different expectations on the youth and that they will “set things right”. Erhart Borkman is asked by his elders in succession to restore the honor of his family (by his mother) or to be adopted by his aunt as an heir to her legacy, and finally by his own father that he should help him build his

9 The Norwegian capital actually changed its name from Christiania to Kristiania (Norwegianized spelling) in 1897 before reverting to the historical name Oslo in 1924 (after 400 years of being known as either Christiania or Kristiania).

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fortune from scratch again. In the end, he shrugs off all these expectations to find his own happiness. The whole issue of family bankruptcy, of course, has its parallel in Ibsen’s own family, when his father went bankrupt.

Heitmann (2006) points to arrival as a central theme of the play; waiting for an arrival, anti-climactic arrival and the arrival that never comes (28). In the play, some of the characters wait for an arrival that never comes and others are disappointed at the effects of an arrival. She points out that the play itself begins with Mrs. Borkman waiting for the arrival of her son, but instead, Ella arrives, with unexpected and unwanted consequences for Mrs. Borkman (29). There is also the waiting Mr. Borkman up in his room, waiting for former bank colleagues to come begging at his doorstep, but that arrival never comes. Instead, the old secretary Wilhelm Foldal arrives, and Mr. Borkman reacts with a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment at this. The characters, especially the older ones, are waiting up to a point where it does not work anymore, and it all becomes “pointless” (ibid. 25). Heitmann concludes that “before we embark on the new, Ibsen claims, the old must be put to an end” (39).

An adjoining theme to the arrival theme is the concept of time in the play. Sørensen (2012) notes that in his later plays Ibsen explores “temporal dissonances […] between collective and individual experiences of time” (287). She notes that the real action (the bank scandal and the ensuing imprisonment and family disruptions) has already happened in the past (ibid.). She points to the two central characters of Borkman and Mrs. Borkman as “characters who wish neither to act nor to communicate – the two aspects of a “normal” drama. The present drama that we watch is not theirs, the house is not theirs, and the time is not theirs” (ibid. 292).

Finally, there is the obvious theme of aging and of impending death. Todić points to the importance of the prominently placed performance of Saint-Saëns’ Dance Macabre in the beginning of Act 2, as young Frida plays to entertain Borkman in his chambers (164). In a similar line of argument as Heitmann and Sørensen, Todić argues that the central characters Borkman, Mrs. Borkman and Ella all behave like they are already dead. The theme of death connects to the themes of waiting and arrival; the characters are in a sense waiting for death, but when it comes, it may indeed not be what they wished or expected.

It is notable that the reception of the play in Japan was rather different than in the West concerning the younger characters of the play. Especially the figure of Erhart might have to do with an emphasis in the theater production. As Poulton states: “Many have noted that while the title character of John Gabriel Borkman is an old man, the Free Theatre’s production focused on the son, Erhart. Erhart’s “I want to live!” became a rallying cry for the new generation of Japanese rebelling against their fathers” (32). This is a phenomenon that Nagashima also describes: “Although the play is about Borkman’s fall, the younger generation in Japan applauded Erhart for his quest for freedom and his absorption in a passionate life” (93). Nagashima claims that this effect was not intended by the translator, however, but rather a result of Osanai’s direction of the play (ibid.).

2.5 Osanai Kaoru and shingeki theater

Shingeki, the new style of Japanese theater that developed towards the end of Meiji era (1868-1912) and in the ensuing Taisho era (1912-1926), was forwarded by the theater director and playwright Osanai Kaoru (1881-1928) and his Free Theatre, as briefly mentioned in the introduction. Other prominent literary or theatrical figures are also heavily associated with the movement, however, like the author, professor and translator Tsubouchi Shōyō. Unlike the kabuki theater style of play, which still was the predominant “popular” theater style by the beginning of the 20th century, shingeki theater was associated with the modern realist ideals of Western theater at that time, inspired by playwrights like Ibsen, Chekhov and Gorki, but also classic playwrights like Shakespeare (Poulton ix).

According to Oya (418), Osanai was inspired by the theatrical ideas of Edward Gordon Craig; looking for a style of theater more centered around the director and the screenplay rather than the flair of the individual actors. John Gabriel Borkman was chosen as first play of Osanai’s newly established Free Theatre in which Osanai attempted to demonstrate these ideals on the Japanese theater stage. At his disposal, Osanai would have actors primarily nested in the kabuki tradition, but as Morinaga points out, shingeki was formed as a direct contrast to the ideals of

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kabuki theater (119-120). The fact that the actors were still very much kabuki actors meant that they would have to ‘unlearn’ the kabuki style of acting, effectively turning “professionals into amateurs” (ibid. 121). Morinaga describes the seeming paradox of Osanai’s wanting to employ already experienced kabuki actors to learn a new style of acting instead of training inexperienced actors (121), but as Ottaviani points out, Osanai must have felt that the “artistic heritage like that offered by the kabuki tradition could make a serious contribution to the new theater” (220). Morinaga claims that Osanai would have little interest in the financial success of the theater and its play productions (123-124); the focus should be on the art. She even quotes Osanai:

One cannot make money by pursuing arts (qtd. in Morinaga 123).

These artistic ideas behind the shingeki theater would entail, as Ottaviani points out, “abandoning certain superficial attitudes that were widespread at the time, such as, for instance, giving too much importance to external elements, concentrating only on physical appearance, and neglecting the character's identity and his relationship with the other characters and the environment in which he moves” (221-222). Shingeki theater introduced the contemporary ideas of Western theater to Japan, but it was also intended to be ’free theater’, or as Ottaviani describes it: ”free from the mechanisms of commercial theater and hence free to conduct its own research and adopt a new form of dramatic art (219).

Several authors stress the importance of Ibsen for the formation of shingeki, among others Poulton (32), Oya (419), and Ottaviani (219). There had been translations and productions of Ibsen dramas as early as 1902, an adaptation of An Enemy of the People (Poulton 32), but the performance of John Gabriel Borkman was especially important, as described by the aforementioned authors and by Liu (412).

Liu looks at the first Western plays performed in Japan and China and states that they would rely heavily on elements of acculturation/domestication (412), but that a certain degree of attempting to retain the foreign element would be used, especially visibly seen in the contemporary marketing of the play (424). Gradually, this foreign element would be further emphasized in shingeki theater, but in Japan, shinpa10 theater, or the predecessor to shingeki theater, would include elements from kabuki theater at the same time as Western elements. Thus, shingeki can be said to evolve from shinpa theater and that there would develop a certain dichotomy between shinpa and shingeki theater; whereas shinpa theater would be regarded as more commercial in nature (topical, accessible and relevant) (420), shingeki theater would appeal more to the cultural elite, who might have been expected to be both more receptive and understanding of the foreign elements of a play (ibid.).

3. Relevant theory

Among the several different fields of translation studies, Susan Bassnett argues that drama translation studies is one of the fields that have been the least explored (“Translating” 99). Merino-Álvarez also makes a similar argument, even going so far as to call the field “largely neglected” (127). Furthermore, Xu and Cui calls for a theory to address the challenges connected with drama translation and drama translation evaluation:

In spite of the difficulties confronted in drama translation, the circles of translation studies are putting increasing emphasis on them; however, when encountering these difficulties, translators become ineffective in guiding drama translation, evaluating the translation, and justifying their initiatives. A theory, therefore, is needed to compensate for this ineffectiveness (46).

Despite these claims and despite the apparent absence of formal frameworks for evaluating drama translations, there has been continued interest in the general subject of drama translation in the scientific literature for quite some time. A quick review follows of some of the concepts used in translation theory that is especially relevant for discussion of drama translation and for this thesis.

10 新派 (shinpa). Shinpa, or ‘new school’ theater were typically adaptions of Western drama for the Japanese stage, but the plays selected were not necessarily modern, realist or naturalist, as was usually the case with shingeki.

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3.1 Drama translation

Many scholars point to the dual nature of drama translation, the literary and theatrical aspect, as being the most distinctive features or challenges of drama translation, among others Xu and Cui (46), whose adapted methodology this study mainly relies on. Bassnett even argues that there are, in fact, two texts involved in drama translation, the written and the performed (“Ways Through” 87). She argues that the verbal text is often prioritized before the other signs involved in theater, creating an “imbalance”:

A major obstacle in the development of theater studies has been the continued emphasis on the verbal text to the exclusion of the other sign systems involved in the creation of theater (ibid. 88).

She identifies five different types of strategies for dealing with drama translation11:

1) Treating the theater text as a literary work 2) Using the SL cultural context as a frame text 3) Translating 'performability' 4) Creating SL verse drama in alternative forms 5) Co-operative translation (ibid. 90-91).

Of these five strategies, the third strategy might be said to be of special significance for this study; she explains that ‘performability’ is about creating “fluid speech rhythms” for the intended actors, creating “equivalent registers in the TL” or even “omitting passages that are too closely bound to the SL cultural and linguistic context (ibid. 90-91).

Merino-Álvarez calls for a framework to perform structural analysis of a given play at the textual level; frame (stage directions) and dialogue; act-by-act, scene-by-scene and utterance-by-utterance comparison (129-130). She concludes that the object of study must necessarily be the printed translated text, as “the performance as an object of study is too elusive since it cannot be reproduced.” (ibid. 134). This focus on the written text when analyzing the structure of the play, however, may serve to strengthen the dichotomy between the two types of texts that Bassnett identifies (the written and performed), but Merino-Álvarez is admittedly correct in stating the difficulties in analyzing performances themselves. For instance, Bassnett maintains that there are culturally encoded performance conventions that will affect audience reception of the play (“Translating” 111). Jin Di also acknowledges these factors, but distinguishes cultural from social and cautions that the translator must not be too pre-occupied with possible audience reception:

[...] for a translator of a literary piece as a work of art, the beauty and integrity of each separable message in it must be as important for the whole as those of a limb or a nose are for a portrait or sculpture. At the same time, generally speaking, he cannot and need not worry about the possible responsive actions of his receptors, which are largely controlled by their own social and individual circumstances. It is true that the translator needs to pay close attention to his receptors' cultural as well as linguistic background in order to transform the message in just the right manner for their appropriate reception, but there his worry must end (Jin and Nida 211).

Adding to Bassnett’s concept of ‘performability’, Jin points to the necessity for words to “fit the action” of the play (Jin and Nida 39), which applies to both methodologies of Xu and Cui and the one adapted for this study12.

3.2 Skopos theory

The skopos theory, as formulated by Katharina Reiß and Hans Vermeer, especially in their collaborative treatise Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie (1984), focuses on the purpose or aim of the translation. As Hasegawa explains, according to the skopos theory a text is an “offering of information made by a producer to a recipient” (203), and that makes a translation an “offering to members of the [target language] of information that is similar to that originally

11 Bassnett uses the abbreviations SL for ’source language’ and TL for ’target language’. 12 See section 5.1 below.

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provided in the [source language] from the source culture” (203). The skopos, or purpose, of the translation is closely connected to the specifications and motivations of the initiator of the translation (Hasegawa 203) and not necessarily merely those of the author of the original text. Subsequently, the translation can offer similar information, but not identical information; or as Du states: ”the translator can not offer the same amount and kind of information as the source-text producer” (2192). Rather, what the translator does is to offer another kind of information in another form, and that means that the skopos of the source text and the translation might differ.

Du addresses a common criticism of the skopos theory; that it is less relevant for literary works due to complexity of style and the fact there may be no evident purpose for the text (2193). When dealing with drama translations for the purpose of theatrical production, however, it would be hard to completely dismiss the validity of the skopos of the translation. For instance, there are similarities in the skopos of both source text and translated text in that they are both intended to be employed in subsequent theatrical productions, but different socio-cultural circumstances between source and target culture may necessarily affect the skopos of the individual texts.

In the case of Ōgai’s 1909 translation of Borkman, the initiator of the translation is clearly Osanai Kaoru, who needed the translated play for his new-established theater. The skopos would be closely connected to the intention of presenting the ideals of shingeki theater before a contemporary audience. Furthermore, as according to skopos theory “intertextual coherence is of less importance than intratextual coherence” (Du 2193), there should be evidence of concessions on the part of the translator to preserve coherence within the translated text itself rather than staying as close as possible to the original text.

3.3 Dynamic equivalence and equivalent effect

As formulated in the 1964 treatise Toward a Science of Translating, Eugene Nida famously establishes two types of equivalence in translating, the formal:

Formal equivalence focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content. In such a translation one is concerned with such correspondences as poetry to poetry, sentence to sentence, and concept to concept. Viewed from this formal orientation, one is concerned that the message in the receptor language should match as closely as possible the different elements in the source language (159).

and the dynamic:

In such a translation one is not so concerned with matching the receptor-language message with the source-language message, but with the dynamic relationship [...], that the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message (159).

The notion of equivalence, and especially that of equivalent effect is central to the discourse of scholars Xu and Cui (46), and relevant for their methodology, as presented in section 5.1 below. Also centrally connected to Nida’s concept of dynamic equivalence are the concepts of naturalness and naturalness of expression, or in the words of Nida: "a translation of dynamic equivalence aims at complete naturalness of expression, and tries to relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of his own culture [...] (159).

Jin Di generally follows Nida’s definition of equivalence, but cautions that what one means by the term dynamical equivalence is, in fact, necessarily “roughly equivalent to” (94), since no translation can account for all the “content and form” (ibid.) of the source text. Jin further claims that "what a translator can do is not to avoid change, which is unavoidable, but to try and avoid changes that may entail unnecessary losses and make those which may help to achieve a gain" (205-206). Ma, who has done a comparison of the theoretical frameworks of Nida and Jin, states that there are some relevant differences in the way Jin and Nida regard equivalence; whereas Nida concentrates on the target audience, Jin is more concerned with the source text (100). Ma further points out that Jin’s concept of equivalent effect requires more literal translation,

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whereas Nida’s dynamic equivalence often entails rather free translation (102). What Jin means by the terms “effect”, “equivalence” and “equivalent effect” is briefly explained as such:

I use the term "effect" in a broader sense than I believe it is understood among many translators and translation theorists-I refer to the overall impression a translation produces on the mind of the receptor, which the spirit and the substance (including alleged and imagined facts, questions, commands, etc.) as well as the aesthetic effect. And I use the term "equivalence" as it is defined by Nida-not identity but the closest possible resemblance. Thus delineated, "equivalent effect" means an over-all impression a translation leaves on the mind of the receptor which is as close as possible to the one the original text produces on the source-language receptor, in spite of or rather through all its transformations (205-206).

With Jin’s prior caution about dynamical equivalence being rough equivalence in mind, the concept of “closest possible resemblance” would still arguably be closer to a ‘literal’ than a ‘free’ translation. In the translation of Borkman, Ōgai would have to decide whether “closest possible resemblance” to the target text or “matching the receptor-language message with the source-language message” would take precedence, or perhaps whether a compromise between the two were possible.

3.4 Domestication and foreignization

Domestication as a translation strategy refers to the act of making the translated text conform as much as possible to the target culture and target language conventions, but as Venuti states, this does not come without a certain amount of friction:

Translation is the forcible replacement of the linguistic and cultural differences of the foreign text with a text that is intelligible to the translating-language reader (14).

Venuti goes on to describe the aim of translation as: “to bring back a cultural other as the recognizable, the familiar, even the same” (14), but that this aim puts the translator at risk of putting a too strong emphasis on domestication. The strategy of foreignization, on the other hand “signifies the differences of the foreign text, yet only by disrupting the cultural codes that prevail in the translating language” (15). In other words, either acts of domestication or foreignization carries with it a set of problems associated with the transfer of meaning between language cultures; domestication may create a distance of meaning between the source text and the target text and foreignization between the translated text and the target language culture.

Venuti argues that Nida’s concepts of “naturalness” and ‘dynamic/functional equivalence” must necessarily entail a large degree of domestication (16) and criticizes Nida for not taking fully into account the “ethnocentric violence that is inherent in every translation process” (17). Thus, for Venuti, the concepts of domestication and foreignization is closely linked with the moral aspects of translation.

In addition to the aspects of skopos, or the aim of the translation and equivalent effect, or the degree to which the translated text is coherent with the source text discussed above in 3.2 and 3.3 respectively, Ōgai would have had to decide to which extent he would rely and domestication or foreignization approaches to bring about the desired effect. As Venuti describes it, both approaches carry with them certain advantages and drawbacks alike.

4. Previous research

4.1 General overview Several studies have been quoted so far to shed light on Ōgai’s relationship with Western

ideas and ‘westernness’; Bowring (1975), Fessler (2011), Hopper (1974), Auestad (2006) and Poulton (2010)13. For the ideas of Henrik Ibsen, as presented in John Gabriel Borkman, Heitmann (2006), Sørensen (2012) and Todić (2012) 14 have provided essential insight. For the

13 Section 2.2 above. 14 Section 2.4 above.

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development of shingeki theatre, Oya (2013), Morinaga (2005), Ottaviani (1994) and Liu (2007)15 have all been consulted. In addition to these studies, two studies carry direct relevance for the present study at hand. Nagashima (2012) has described Ōgai’s general approach to translation by looking at several of his translations of Scandinavian literature, but even the play John Gabriel Borkman specifically. Furthermore, Xu and Cui’s study (2011) on drama translation evaluation forms the basis of the methodology of this thesis.

4.2 Ōgai’s translations of Ibsen Nagashima Yōichi, based at the University of Copenhagen, has among other fields of study

specialized in comparative literature, specifically Ōgai’s translations of Scandinavian literature. Nagashima compares Ōgai’s changing and developing approach to translation by comparing early translations of Ibsen’s Brand or H.C Andersen’s The Storyteller and later translations of John Gabriel Borkman and Ghosts by Ibsen, making the claim that a change occurs in Ōgai’s approach to translation between these completed translations (100). Furthermore, the author claims that Ōgai himself was “translated” culturally by his visit to Germany and that his subsequent literary work reflects this personal “translation” (86).

Nagashima further states that, in translating his personal experience in his literary works, Ōgai would have to omit certain cultural elements, especially elements concerning Christianity, which Ōgai thought would be unintelligible to the Japanese audience (87). For instance, Brand, the firebrand preacher, would make no reference to the Christian religion in Ōgai’s version, but rather to a general kami16. On the other hand, according to Nagashima, the translations of John Gabriel Borkman and Ghosts were much more faithful to the original; he claims that “[Ōgai] did not explicitly eliminate Western elements like Christianity; he did not implement a simple Japanization of the original text, either” (89).

4.3 Drama language translation Authors Xu and Cui point out the dual nature of drama; it is both a literary and a theatrical

art (46). In order to resolve the many challenges involved in applied translation of drama, the authors call for the need to establish a general theory for how to evaluate drama translation, and they refer to both Nida and Jin when discussing the concept of equivalent effect, which they deem central to their theoretical framework (ibid.).

The authors study two different English translations of Tea House, the 1957 play by Lao She, in order to compare and evaluate the translations in terms of whether equivalent effect have been, according to five different aesthetical criteria, properly achieved. The criteria are intelligibility, brevity, characterization, actability and musicality (47-48); and they are treated in order in the article, complete with relevant textual comparisons of the two translated plays and the original Chinese script.

Equivalent effect in intelligibility is defined as the need for the audience to immediately understand the words and actions of the play, brevity as being economical about the amount of time allotted to a specific line or action, characterization as making the distinctive characters recognizable on stage through their speech and actions, actability as the need for the dialogue and actions to be sufficient to be able to portray a living, believable character and lastly, musicality as making the language sound interesting to the audience17.

Xu and Cui point to the difference between the two translators investigated; Ying Ruocheng is in addition an experienced actor and John Howard-Gibbon is a Canadian-born editor of a Chinese newspaper with extensive knowledge and appreciation of Chinese culture. The five categories used by the authors to evaluate the two translations do clearly show distinct differences in translation approach and achieved effect by the two translators, not the least when it comes to differences in usage of colloquial language (51). It may be argued that a

15 Section 2.5 above. 16 神(kami; divinity) 17 See section 5.1.1 below

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translator without extensive theatrical experience might wish to aim for poetical, literary beauty in favor of theatrical actability and dramatic effect, and in their study it is certainly the case that the translator Ruocheng, with acting experience, went for a rougher, more colloquial and economic style of expression throughout the examples provided by Xu and Cui. However, when it comes to musicality, the more “literary” translation done by Howard-Gibbon was arguably just as successful as the “dramatic” one (56).

There is of course, the seemingly unaddressed factor that Ruocheng’s mother tongue might be a variant of Chinese and Howard-Gibbon’s probably Canadian English. It would be natural to assume greater familiarity with the source language and culture in the first case and the target language in the second case, although they both certainly master both languages. Thus, another factor than merely equivalence in effect might be in play. Furthermore, the analysis of musicality of the English language is not very thoroughly investigated or even defined (48). Despite a few possible linguistic shortcomings and somehow vague definitions, the author’s general approach to evaluation of dramatic translation is a very relevant and forms the basis for the methodology of this thesis.

5. Method and Materials

For this study, an adapted version of the set of categories involved in the evaluation of

drama translation presented by researchers Xu and Cui in their article Drama language translation

(2011) is used in order to do a qualitative analysis of Ōgai’s approach to the translation of John

Gabriel Borkman. Whereas Xu and Cui used their method to compare and evaluate the linguistic

and theatrical qualities of two different play translations, the approach of this thesis is that their

method may be adapted and used to evaluate and analyze Ōgai’s method of translation, and

provide insights to the process of successful drama translation in general. The methodology of

Xu and Cui and how it is adapted for this study is discussed more in detail below.

5.1 Methodology

Eugene Nida’s concept of dynamic equivalence (see section 3.3) is well-known within the field of translation studies, but the notion has been criticized by among others, among them notably Lawrence Venuti (see section 3.4). When translating a screenplay faithfully, one ideally attempts to achieve dynamic equivalence, and the effect of the translation is arguably readily measurable from the audience response to the play. The concept of equivalence might be elusive, however; to try to find an approach to limit the potential problems involved in evaluating whether dynamic equivalence (or in the theoretical framework of Jin Di, equivalent effect) is achieved or not in drama translation, scholars Xu and Cui (2011) suggested looking at a specific set of criteria peculiar to drama.

5.1.1 Evaluation of drama translation

Xu and Cui (2011) use five central criteria to evaluate drama translation: intelligibility, brevity, characterization, actability and musicality. It may be argued that, given that the categories are properly defined and limited, these categories are essential to successful drama translation and that they take into consideration both literary and theatrical aspects. In Xu and Cui’s methodology, the categories are broadly defined as follows:

Table 1: Definitions according to Xu and Cui:

Intelligibility ”Since the language of a drama aims at the audience and has the quality of simultaneity, the expressions employed should be easy to understand immediately. Compared with the language of other literary genres, intelligibility of drama is perhaps more conspicuous because of its potential theatrical performance quality. Therefore, the intelligibility of modern or contemporary theater performance shows preference for informal words and slang when playwrights make their

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choices. Simple or incomplete sentences are usually a large proportion in drama language” (47).

Brevity ”The performance of a drama usually lasts for about two or three hours. In such a short period, there is no time for the abundance of irrelevant details which most of us use in our daily lives, unless they are intended for a special dramatic effect. In drama performance, ‘each unit of time […] is at a premium. Any dramatist measures dialogue by split seconds. […] Time [is] an essential factor for the playwright to consider, so he/she has to compact much information into a few lines of dialogue and sometimes the dialogue is even condensed to some extent” (48).

Characterization ”The plot of drama is driven by characters’ dialogues. The characters have different ways of behaving, thinking, expressing, and talking. So the most important device of the playwright to portray the characters’ personalities is the dialogue” (48).

Actability ”Actability requires that the drama language be dynamic. Speech is one form of action. Another is gestures and movements of the characters. The former is an important part of dramatic action. In a drama, performers’ lines not only describe the story or expressions of feelings and attitude but also convey actions” (48).

Musicality ”Musicality is generally acknowledged as characteristic of drama language; playwrights, therefore, often take advantage of various devices to make the language sound more interesting or entertaining than it would otherwise be” (48).

The researchers apply these categories in their comparative analysis of two different play translations (see section 4.3) to “demonstrate the significance of intelligibility, brevity, characterization, actability and musicality in translating dramas, which not only realizes the equivalent effect of drama language but also achieves the theatrical effectiveness of the text in the target theatrical convention (57). In other words, in addition to a mere evaluation of which play translation is the more successful, they wish to test and demonstrate the viability of their methodology.

5.1.2 Adaptation of method to current study

In this study, four of Xu and Cui’s five identified features of drama language will be analyzed. The decision not to include musicality in the study was based on the premise that the nature of musicality touches upon the nature of poetic beauty and requires expertise in the target language that is highly specialized. Indeed, it may be argued that this aspect is not especially rigorously defined or analyzed by the Xu and Cui either, but that does not mean that it is not an important feature of drama language; on the contrary, it may be said to be a most central aspect. The remaining four main categories, intelligibility, brevity, characterization and actability, are treated under individual subheadings in analysis, but the overlapping nature of several of the features sometimes necessitates that different features must be analyzed under each subheading.

Three longer passages have been chosen for analysis and are numbered 1-97, 98-204 and 205-314 respectively. These passages are: 1) from the beginning of the first act until Ella declares that Mrs. Borkman must necessarily be happy in that she is absolutely sure of her son, 2) from the beginning of the second act until Wilhelm Foldal sighs and expresses his wish that Mr. Borkman’s former colleagues in the bank may come to see Mr. Borkman sooner rather than later, and finally 3) the third act from the arrival of Erhart on stage until Mrs. Borkman declares that Erhart is far too young to understand whether involving himself with a married woman might create problems further down the road or not. These three passages include speaking lines by all eight characters, and they are also rich in foreshadowing, which will give the audience important clues to the understanding of the plot.

Table 2: Adapted definitions used in this thesis:

Intelligibility In this thesis, intelligibility will be about the ability of audience to understand the plot, assuming that the source play contains all the necessary elements for plot comprehension already. In translations between source and target cultures that are considerably different from each other, the aspect of cultural translation inevitably

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comes in. The equivalent effect under the category of intelligibility will be that the Japanese audience will, to as large an extent as possible, understand the ideas presented in the play, on a comparable level with Norwegian or German audiences. Absolute equivalence in terms of audience comprehension should not, however, be possible, as culturally contingent concepts may prove difficult to account for in translation. Furthermore, individual differences in perception and emotions will always exist, but the ideas should be equivalent. Several aspects dealing with plot comprehension are analyzed under different subheadings in section 6.2.

Brevity Brevity will be about whether the translator adheres closely to the temporal aspect of play performance of the original text or not. Brevity relates to intelligibility; in order for necessary audience comprehension of the play to take place, necessary information must be given in the text itself or otherwise compensated for. If the translator cannot find suitable, equivalent words or expressions in the target language, the end result might be that information is either lost (through omission) or compensated for in the form of lengthy recapitulations or clarifications. There is also a close connection between brevity and actability: the actor may not have the luxury of declaiming a long line when they are supposed to die or get hit by a chair on stage. Different categories of challenges connected with the brevity aspect are sorted under subheadings in section 6.3.

Characterization Characterization concerns the way in which the characters express themselves and will of course intersect with all the other three categories. Intelligibility, in that the audience must understand the motivations of each character in terms of emotions expressed or characteristics expressed through language in the play; brevity, in that a character’s way of expressing themselves might be indirect or direct, a character who speaks a lot or is reluctant to talk; actability, in that the line must suit the personal character and the actions they are performing on stage. When translating characteristics of speech into Japanese, the issue of register will usually be prevalent. Characteristics of character speech is presented and analyzed under section 6.4.

Actability Finally, actability deals with whether the line suits the emotional state of the character or the intended action at that particular point in the play. Actability is closely connected to brevity in that the actor must have time to speak their line during the action they are performing. Furthermore, tension or suspense within the play are closely related to actability. Presented under section 6.5 below.

5.2 Materials

5.2.1 Dano-Norwegian original (1896) and the German translation (1897)

The source play was published in Copenhagen by Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag in 1896 under the title John Gabriel Borkman and first performed before a full audience at the Swedish Theater (Svenska Teatern) in Helsingfors (Helsinki) 10th of January 1897. It was written in Henrik Ibsen’s vernacular Dano-Norwegian, a language of which Ōgai had limited knowledge, but translated into German by Henrik Ibsen’s son Sigurd and published in 1897 by Verlag Albert Langen in Leipzig. Ōgai used this German version of the play to translate it into Japanese, but he might possibly have had access to the original version as well for reference. Ōgai’s translation was finished and published in 1909 by Gahosha in Tokyo, and the play premiered in November the same year at Osanai Kaoru’s Free Theatre. All three versions of the play treated in this thesis maintain the same four act divisions, the same number of characters (8) and they follow each other very closely in terms of dialogue and scene directions.

The action of the play revolves around the family of the former bank manager John Gabriel Borkman, indicted and imprisoned for unlawful speculation with the assets of the bank and the accounts of its customers. All three versions are set on a family farm outside the Norwegian capital, during winter eight years after the former bank manager’s release from prison, presumably in Ibsen’s contemporary 1890s. The first three acts have interior settings, whereas the last act takes place outside the house. Besides the main character, his wife, sister-in-law and

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son Erhart, there are four other supporting characters: Borkman’s old secretary Wilhelm Foldal, Foldal’s young daughter Frida, Mrs. Wilton, a married woman who is Erhart’s romantic interest and the maid at the house.

The three extended passages that are examined and analyzed in this thesis include lines from all the eight characters involved, which was an important criterion behind the selection of passages to analyze for this thesis. Another important consideration was to select longer continuous passages, in order not to miss developments happening over extended parts of the play. A final consideration was the intention to look for passages that dealt with the introduction of new characters or plot elements, as is most generally done in the beginning of each act. The first two passages are selected from the very beginning of act 1 and act 2, whereas the third passage begins further out in act 3. The third passage starts with the entrance of Erhart rather than the very beginning of the act; this for reasons of trying to limit the number of lines to analyze while still encompassing the introduction of the character of Mrs. Wilton.

5.2.2 Ōgai translation (1909)

The original Japanese screenplay is available as a scan from the National Diet Library18. The quality of the print is good, but the somewhat limited resolution of the scan makes it a bit hard to read in some places. As already mentioned in the introduction and background sections above, the translation of the play carries special importance for the development of the Japanese modern theater, and it is in that capacity it is especially interesting as study material. Furthermore, it was translated by one of the most prominent Japanese literary figures of the period, Mori Ōgai, a fact which by itself makes the translation of special interest.

Some linguistic features of the play translation are noteworthy; to begin with, the style of

writing is the modern kōgo-style, based on spoken Japanese (cf. Nagashima 88). Furthermore,

there is an abundance of kanji characters in the text that have gone out of regular daily use (來, 氣, 變) but were in common use at the time of the publication of the script. Some of these are no longer included in the modern computer character set (like the sashite of line 181 in the

appendix), and may not be reproduced correctly in the appendix as a result. Of further note is

the use of the writing convention kyuukanadzukai, which was used until the writing reform in

1946.

6. Analysis and results

In the result section, analyzed items are referred to by the number designated to them in the appendix section. The lines are always presented in the same order: Dano-Norwegian, German and Japanese, with English translation presented in footnotes. The translations are all done by the author, with emphasis on literal translation and language comprehension rather than aesthetics. The four aspects of drama translations will be treated in order, but there are several incidents where several factors are at play simultaneously and these cases will be noted as such.

6.1 General observations

If approaching the translation from Merino-Álvarez’ perspective on the macro-level of the text (129), in the 314 items analyzed, the Japanese translation follows the original Dano-Norwegian and the German translation very closely in terms of content and structure. To begin with, all stage instructions are accounted for in translation and all individual utterances with three notable exceptions. In one instance, the translator has curiously assigned a line to a different person and completely changed it:

a)19 269 BORKMAN Vil du, Erhart?

18 http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/896960 19 269 BORKMAN: Will you, Erhart?

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Borkman Willst Du, Erhard?

夫人 （エルハルトに。）おばさんまで一しょになってあんな事をいってゐるが、お前は父親に付く氣

かい。

Furthermore, two lines (and accompanying stage instructions) were completely omitted in the Japanese translation, specifically items 213 and 214:

b)20 212 FRU B.MAN Ja. Véd du det også? Frau Borkman Gewiß. Weißt Du es auch?

夫人 おう。知ってゐますとも。お前は又どうしてそれを知ってゐるのだえ。

213 ERHART studser og sér på hende Om jeg véd det? Ja, naturligvis – Erhard stutzt und sieht sie an. Ob ich es weiß? Ja, natürlich –

エルハルト (Omitted.)

214 FRU B.MAN Aha, et aftalt spil! Bag min ryg! Erhart, Erhart! Frau Borkman Aha, ein abgekartetes Spiel! Hinter meinem Rücken! Erhard, Erhard!

夫人 (Omitted.)

215 ERHART hurtig Mor, sig mig, hvad det er for noget, som du véd! Erhard schnell. Mutter, sag' mir, was weißt Du?

エルハルト （急に。）おっ母さん。一體あなたが知ってゐるといふのは、どういふ事なのですか。それを僕

にいって下さい。

The translator may have found it difficult to find a proper way to treat the emphasis (om jeg véd det) in translation; in fact, another instance of this possible difficulty might be observed in the translation of item 301 (see example h) below). On the other hand, the translator might have found the passage redundant, but this is unlikely, as he carefully follows the source text elsewhere.

Finally, in a few places, the translator has inserted new stage instructions; these usually clarify to which person a character is speaking; for example, in line 265 (and in fact also in example a) above):

c)21 265 FRU B.MAN Og det råder du til? Du, den ensomme, – den døende. Frau Borkman Und das rätst Du ihm? Die Einsame, – die Sterbende!

夫人 （エルラに。）おや。お前はどうしてエルハルトにそんな事を勸めるのだい。これから寂しく、 死ぬる日を待たねばならないお前が。

As Nagashima has clarified (89), Ōgai translated Borkman from the German version, and evidence for using and referring to the German translated text rather than the Dano-Norwegian original are relatively easy to identify. To begin with, the simple fact that Ella Rentheim is

referred to only by her first name (エルラ), like in the German version. Furthermore, there is a

tendency to follow the German version in terms of favoring nominal constructions before verbal constructions, also where the original Dano-Norwegian version has a verbal construction, as seen in the following example:

d)22 48 FRU B.MAN Har han ikke sagt for retten, at det var mig, som begyndte med at ruinere ham? At jeg brugte så altfor mange penge –? Frau Borkman Hat er nicht vor Gericht gesagt, ich wäre es gewesen, die zum Ruin den ersten Anstoß gab! Ich hätte übermäßig viel Geld gebraucht –?

夫人 法廷でも破産になった発端は、わたしの故だと申し立てたではないか。一體わたしか無暗に金で

も遣ったといふものだらうか。

Although the Dano-Norwegian original and the German translation follow each other closely, translations from the German language instead of from the original Dano-Norwegian must

20 212 MRS. BORKMAN: Yes. Do you know (about) it, too? 213 ERHART: (Puzzled, looking at her.) If I know it? Yes, of course – 214 MRS. BORKMAN: Aha, so everything has been arranged behind my back! Erhart, Erhart! 215 ERHART: (Quickly.) Mother, tell me what it is that you know! 21 265 MRS. BORKMAN: And that is the advice you give? You, the lonely, the dying one? 22 48 MRS. BORKMAN: Didn’t he say in court that I was the one who started ruining him? That I was spending far too much money–?

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necessarily produce small changes in meaning, like for instance in the translation of metaphors. In line 64, for instance:

e)23 64 FRU B.MAN […] Jeg har en i baghånden, jeg, skal du vide. […] Frau Borkman […] Ich habe nämlich jemand in der Reserve, damit Du's nur weißt – […]

夫人 […]わたしは斯う見えてもまだ一つ豫備隊を持ってゐる。[…]

The translator employs the military metaphor 豫備隊 (yobitai) for the German word Reserve.

Reserve is a word which may, indeed, mean both ‘reserve’ in a military sense and in the more general sense. The Dano-Norwegian expression “i baghånden”, on the other hand, carry no immediate military associations; it’s meaning is closer to that of ‘having an ace up one’s sleeve’.

6.2 Intelligibility

6.2.1 Culturally loaded terms f)24 14 FRU B.MAN står ubevægelig oprejst mellem kanapéen og bordet og støtter fingerspidsene mod tæppet Går du ikke fejl? Forvalteren bor jo i sidebygningen, véd du. Frau Borkman steht unbeweglich aufrecht zwischen dem Kanapee und dem Tisch und stemmt die Fingerspitzen gegen die Tischdecke. Hast Du Dich nicht im Weg geirrt? Der Verwalter wohnt doch im Seitengebäude.

夫人 （長椅子とテエブルと間に直立不動の姿にてあり。指先をテエブル懸に突きゐる。）お前さん路

にでも迷ってお出でたのではないか。用人に用があるなら、長屋の方にお出なら好いに。

There are several culturally loaded terms in line that might have presented the translator with

challenges: Kanapee; Verwalter; Seitengebäude. The term Kanapee refers to a special kind of sofa

(canapé), the Verwalter refers to the person taking care of the management of the estate in the

absence of the owner (bailiff or steward), and the sidebygning/Seitengebäude refers to a smaller

subsidiary building separate from the main house where staff or servants would have their

lodgings. The terms 長椅子 (nagaisu) , 用人 (yōnin) and 長屋 (nagaya) are employed, all domestications, but each with a meaning close to the original terms. The nagaisu might perhaps

be a simpler and less elaborate couch than the canapé, but the yōnin would indeed take care of

management and accounting and the nagaya would signify simpler quarters separate from the

main building. There are some instances where the translator has been unable to find an

equivalent domestication and have been forced to omit a culturally loaded term, as in line 54

and the word vierspännig:

g)25 54 FRU B.MAN […] Kørte med firspand, – som om han var en konge. Lod folk bukke og skrabe for sig, som for en konge. […] Frau Borkman […]Vierspännig kam er gefahren, – als ob er ein König wäre. Ließ die Leute katzbuckeln, wie vor einem König.

夫人 […]王様か何かのやうに人に背中を曲げさせる[…]

Firspand and vierspännig are equivalent to the English word ‘four-in-hand (carriage)’, but the translator must either have not found a proper equivalent or may not have understood the concept or found it redundant. There are other obvious instances where cultural references have necessarily been omitted, as for instance in the Christian expression ‘Gott sei Lob und Dank’ (praise and thank the Heavens/the Lord) of line 96; instead the translator has Mrs. Borkman

say that (the fact that she can be sure about her son is a fortunate thing: 爲合わせな事(shiawasena koto).

23 64 MRS. BORKMAN: […] I have an ace up my sleeve, I’ll have you know that. […] 24 14 MRS. BORKMAN: (Standing still and upright between the canapé and the table, resting her fingertips on the tablecloth.) Are you sure you have come to the right place? The bailiff lives in the subsidiary building, you know. 25 54 MRS. BORKMAN: […] He used to drive in a four-in-hand (carriage), as if he were a king. Letting people bow and scrape for him, like before a king. […]

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6.2.3 Underemphasis

It is important that the audience understands the seriousness of the situation and the emotions of the play characters in each scene in order to fully grasp the intricacies of the plot. A less emphatic word choice or letting the characters use a too polite tone or round-about way of expressing themselves might potentially weaken the degree of emphasis on an occurrence. If we consider the following example:

h)26 33 ELLA R. fremover gulvet. Å ja, ja, ja! Jeg glemmer nok ikke den stund! Men det er så altfor knugende at tænke på. Bare det, at dvæle ved det et eneste øjeblik – åh! Ella geht nach vorn. Gewiß, gewiß! Den Augenblick werde ich wohl nicht vergessen! Aber der Gedanke daran ist zu niederschmetternd. Dabei auch nur einen Augenblick zu verweilen, – o! エルラ （近寄る。）さうでした、さうでした。わたくしだってあの時の事を忘れはしません。だが、あ の時の事を思ひ出したくはないのです。ちよっとでもあの時の事を考へると堪らなくなるのです

からねえ。あゝ。

The word niederschmetternd means ‘crushing, shattering’, which might be said to be a fair

translation of knugende (grinding, smothering), although the different types of pain are not

completely equivalent. The audience is meant to grasp the grindingly unpleasant sensation of

the thought, but it is translated here with 思ひ出したくはない (omoidashitaku wa nai), meaning

‘I don’t want to think about/remember it’, which might arguably not fully display the

unpleasantness of the thought. A similar instance of underemphasis may be seen in line 174:

i)27 174 FOLDAL brister ud. De derhjemme – de foragter mig. Foldal herausplatzend. Zu Hause, da – da verachten sie mich.

書記 （爆発的に。）内の、内のやつらはわたくしを馬鹿にしきって相手にしないのです。

Forakt in Dano-Norwegian, or Veracht in German, would be a very strong word, close to the

English ‘contempt’, ‘loathing’ or the verb ‘to despise’. The Japanese translation employs 馬鹿

にする(baka ni suru), “to look down on/make fun of”, which is by no means a pleasant act, but it fails to illustrate the contempt that Foldal perceives that his children (except Frida) feel towards him. It is worth noting, however, that underemphasis is not recurring invariably

throughout the play translation. For instance, in line 60, the translator uses the strong word 瓦

解 (gakai; collapse) for Zusammenbruch (breakdown).

6.2.3 Politeness

The need for the different characters to employ certain speech registers consequently creates potential problems for understanding the characters fully. As well as creating potential issues with the aspects of brevity and actability (see 6.3 and 6.5), the polite register might, by being too indirect, undermine audience understanding of character’s intentions. An example of this might be seen in the line below, where Erhart starts to lose patience with his father:

j)28 270 ERHART i pinlig vånde. Far, – jeg kan det ikke nu. Det er så rent umuligt! Erhard in peinlicher Verlegenheit. Vater, – ich kann nicht mehr. Es ist ein Ding der Unmöglichkeit. エルハルト （返事に困る様子。）お父っさん。（間。）もう僕はそんな御相談には乗られません。それは不

可能です。

Arguably, Erhart has reached the point where he simply must tell his father that he ”can’t do it. It’s impossible.” The Japanese translation has Erhart instead saying that he “cannot follow his father’s advice/recommendation”, which is indicative of a character much more in control of his own emotions and passions than Erhart really seems to be in this scene. It is probably what Erhart would have said, had he been in full control of the situation and not, in fact, starting to lose patience.

26 33 ELLA RENTHEIM: (Moving to the front) Oh, yes, yes, yes! How could I forget that time! But the thought of it is all but smothering. Lingering on the thought for just a moment – oh! 27 174 FOLDAL: The people at home [/my family] – they despise me. 28 270 ERHART: (In painful anguish.) Father, – I can’t now. It’s absolutely impossible!

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6.2.4 Understanding of the ideas and themes of the play

The complex title character of the play, Borkman, sometimes uses his surroundings as foils to proclaim his ideals while at the same time indulging in a fair bit of self-justification. In these moments, he is speaking just as much to himself as to the other characters, as in the following example, where the audience is given a clue as to why Borkman sits alone in his room year after year:

k)29 126 BORKMAN løfter advarende pegefingren Vær da aldrig så gal at tvile på Dem selv! Borkman hebt warnend den Zeigefinger Sie werden doch nicht so verrückt sein, an sich selbst zu zweifeln! 主人 （右の手の示指を立つ。）いや、いや。お前さんは自信といふものゝないやうな馬鹿な子ではな いからね。

127 FRIDA Men herregud, når nu ingen véd om det? Frida Aber lieber Gott, wenn nun niemand davon weiß? 娘 でも誰も知ってくれなくては駄目でせう。

But arguably, if he directs the speech too directly to the young girl (jishin to iu mono no nai youna bakana ko; a foolish child with no self-confidence/assurance) as in the above passage, it might lose an important part of this double meaning; he tries to encourage the young girl while at the same defending his own worldview (that keeps him locked up inside his room, waiting). The young girl’s answer is also extremely important: what good is self-assurance if nobody knows (or agrees)? Frida’s line comes out well in the Japanese translation, but the passage as a whole seems to reflect merely on the girl and not on both of the characters, which probably is what Ibsen intended. Ibsen letting his play characters proclaim their convictions loudly and clearly is very common in all his plays, another example is Erhart’s famous encouragement to the youth (as referred to in section 2.4 above), which comes across strongly in the Japanese:

l)30 272 ERHART opblussende. Jeg er ung! Jeg vil leve livet en gang, jeg også! Mit eget liv vil jeg leve! Erhard auflodernd. Ich bin jung! Ich will auch einmal leben! Mein eigenes Leben will ich leben! エルハルト （燃え上るやうに。）僕は若い者です。僕だって一度は生きて見たいのです。自己の生活を生き て見たいのです。

6.3 Brevity

In general, the translator attempts to adhere to the brevity aspect, but there are a few notable exceptions to this rule. To begin with, Japanese conventions concerning polite language and speech register make some lines in the Japanese translation considerably longer than in the other two texts. Perhaps more puzzling, but more connected to the aspiration of audience understandability, is a tendency on the translator’s side of overexplaining certain parts of the action. Finally, as noted in section 6.3.3, the use of emphasis by putting certain words in italics seems to create trouble for the translator in this aspect as well.

The general rule, however, is that the translator attempts to adhere to the brevity aspect, as notably seen in Erhart’s inspiring exclamation:

m)31 282 ERHART med tindrende øjne For lykken, mor! Erhard mit funkelnden Augen. Für das Glück, Mutter!

エルハルト （目を輝かす。）幸福の爲です。

6.3.1 Brevity and speech register

In the opening of the play, the translator follows the source texts very closely in terms of the brevity aspect. It is first in line 8, where the maid speaks, that the first minor breach of this occurs. The maid must necessarily speak keigo, or honorific speech, to her mistress, and the result is that the maid’s answer turns out rather long-winded:

29 126 BORKMAN: (Lifting his forefinger in warning.) (You must) never be so crazy as to doubt yourself! 30 272 ERHART: (With sudden, fiery enthusiasm.) I’m young! For once I’d like to live myself! I want to live my own life! 31 282 ERHART: (With sparkling eyes.) For happiness, mother!

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n)32 8 STUEPIGEN Ja, jeg forstod det, som det var til fruen. Das Stubenm. Ja. Ich habe so verstanden, daß es für die gnädige Frau ist. 女中 左様でございます。わたくしの承はりました處では、奥様にお目にかゝりたいと仰

いましたやうでございます。

The issue of polite language creates many situations where Ella Rentheim’s lines become rather extensive as well, but there are examples where the translator has solved this by simply omitting passages that evidently were deemed redundant; this serves to maintain brevity despite the use of polite language:

o)33 51 ELLA R. Det véd jeg nok. Men just derfor skulde du ha’ holdt igen. Og det gjorde du nok ikke. Ella Das weiß ich wohl. Aber eben deshalb hättest Du ihn zurückhalten sollen. Und das hast Du schwerlich getan.

エルラ それはわたくしも知ってゐます。併しそれだからあなたが止めさせるやうにすべきではなかった

でせうか。

On the other hand, Mrs. Borkman’s occasional rough and informal language undeniably makes it easier for the translator to maintain brevity:

p)34 80 FRU B.MAN Erhart – svagelig! Frau Borkman Erhard – schwächlich!

夫人 なに、エルハルトが�