There’s so much here, what a great essay. I personally really dislike writer gatherings so I admire you for continuing to do the writer conferences. I’ve done a few and I’m done now. :) I get irritated with the various writing workshops and MFA-type courses. I think you wrote something awhile back about the American literary workshop creating a certain kind of sameness (I’m sure I imputed that from your essay, you probably didn’t say that exactly), how they are not very diverse, how they teach a certain kind of “voice,” etc. Your essay emboldened me, and now I think carefully about “audience” when I am writing and reading, and I’ve ditched the creative writing masters I was thinking of doing. I don’t want to write for the New Yorker, or the people who wish they wrote for the New Yorker. And I often dislike snobby literature, so that explains why I feel prickly about it, but I appreciated the sources you cited, because apparently I’m not the only one who dislikes the stranglehold of the MFA.
I didn’t care for Breasts and Eggs, and once again I think it was “audience.” I don’t think the author is talking to me. You raise a good question, which is that maybe part of my disconnect had to do with the translation. But I don’t know if it’s the Osaka-ben. Accents mean something quite different in the U.S. and Britain. They’re often related to social class, and it bothers me when they are used indiscriminately. I think I’d rather have the neutral Japanese with subtle comments to establish place. And again, it’s “audience.” Japanese people have a reaction to Osaka-ben that English-speakers would not.
I've read neither "The Makioka Sisters" nor "Sasame-yuki". But I decided many years ago that Seidensticker is a past master at translating any Japanese literary work into "Seidensticker-ese" -- a flat, monotonous, emotionless drone, drained of any energy or panache. Genji, Yuki-guni, you name it, it all reads the same: quietly spoken, disconnected sentences. I once did a quick comparison of a Seidensticker translation of a short story with the original Japanese. The mechanics of the translation were immediately obvious. Any slightly complex sentences were reduced to the same formulaic style of simple sentences without too much attempt at linking or "nesting" (grammatical complexity). I don't know why Seidensticker has the reputation he does. He is quite literally the enemy of good translation.
I'll go for "off her trolley . . . thick as two short planks." Remarkable piece, Leanne! Getting right to the heart of the bother with writing. More power to you!
There’s so much here, what a great essay. I personally really dislike writer gatherings so I admire you for continuing to do the writer conferences. I’ve done a few and I’m done now. :) I get irritated with the various writing workshops and MFA-type courses. I think you wrote something awhile back about the American literary workshop creating a certain kind of sameness (I’m sure I imputed that from your essay, you probably didn’t say that exactly), how they are not very diverse, how they teach a certain kind of “voice,” etc. Your essay emboldened me, and now I think carefully about “audience” when I am writing and reading, and I’ve ditched the creative writing masters I was thinking of doing. I don’t want to write for the New Yorker, or the people who wish they wrote for the New Yorker. And I often dislike snobby literature, so that explains why I feel prickly about it, but I appreciated the sources you cited, because apparently I’m not the only one who dislikes the stranglehold of the MFA.
I didn’t care for Breasts and Eggs, and once again I think it was “audience.” I don’t think the author is talking to me. You raise a good question, which is that maybe part of my disconnect had to do with the translation. But I don’t know if it’s the Osaka-ben. Accents mean something quite different in the U.S. and Britain. They’re often related to social class, and it bothers me when they are used indiscriminately. I think I’d rather have the neutral Japanese with subtle comments to establish place. And again, it’s “audience.” Japanese people have a reaction to Osaka-ben that English-speakers would not.
Thanks again for this, lots of thoughts here!
I've read neither "The Makioka Sisters" nor "Sasame-yuki". But I decided many years ago that Seidensticker is a past master at translating any Japanese literary work into "Seidensticker-ese" -- a flat, monotonous, emotionless drone, drained of any energy or panache. Genji, Yuki-guni, you name it, it all reads the same: quietly spoken, disconnected sentences. I once did a quick comparison of a Seidensticker translation of a short story with the original Japanese. The mechanics of the translation were immediately obvious. Any slightly complex sentences were reduced to the same formulaic style of simple sentences without too much attempt at linking or "nesting" (grammatical complexity). I don't know why Seidensticker has the reputation he does. He is quite literally the enemy of good translation.
I'll go for "off her trolley . . . thick as two short planks." Remarkable piece, Leanne! Getting right to the heart of the bother with writing. More power to you!