|
Title |
Translation as a Communicating Strategy: on Japanese Translation publications and Knowledge Production Activities from 1945 to 1949 |
|
Author |
Wang, Hui-Chen |
|
Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature, National TsingHua University |
|
|
Abstract |
This paper focuses on what kind of role Japanese, the language of ex-colonists, played in the early stage of Taiwan post-war cultural fields. To have a clearer view of this discussion, this paper has to analyze a phenomenon: when facing the still vast audience of Japanese, who made up 70 percent of reading population of the time, how did different groups of people adjust their publishing and promoting strategies? The succeeding government converted language of ex-colonists into some sort of “lingua franca,” using it as a tool to convey official ideas, whereas privite newspapers and magazines, by arranging Japanese columns or pages in their publications, conducted translation of knowledges to show their agency and to ensure visibility in cultural fields; besides, publishers still made new translation products respectively to cater to Japanese readers’ need, despite retreat of Japanese capital and government’s demand for “being Chinese.” In other words, during the wax and wane of different cognitive powers after the war, the Chinese government employed Japanese to deliver orders and to justify its legitimacy of rule, but Japanese not only functioned as a governmental tool for political purposes but also created some room for compromise between cultures. On the contrary, non-governmental cultural powers demonstrated their dynamics in politics and satisfied the need of readers through Japanese books and Japanese (even bilingual) versions of books. In addition to those groups mentioned above, members of 台灣藝術社 continued their publishing strategy as they did before the war to feed the remaining readers of popular literature, and left wingers implanted their social concerns and criticisms in their translation products. To sum up, through this paper’s investigation, part of the outline of Japanese translation publications as well as knowledge production activities after war is hoped to be given. |
