Translating Ogura Hyakunin Isshu – An analysis of translating decorative language from Japanese to English

Abstract

In this thesis, translation of classical Japanese poetry into English will be examined by analysing translations of five selected poems from the anthology Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Translations by three different translators will be examined and the differences highlighted. The main focus will be on examining how the decorative language is translated. Venuti’s translation theory will be presented and necessary background information will be given.

The hypothesis for this study was that translating classical Japanese poetry to English will pose difficulties not only due to the aspect of translation, but also more specific to the field of classical poetry. These difficulties were expected to be especially prevalent concerning the decorative language, which is used often in classical Japanese poetry. The results supported this hypothesis. The translations examined varied greatly, which indicates that there is no simple way to translate the decorative language present in classical Japanese poetry.