Horiguchi Daigaku as Exoticism: The Fate of Exoticism in Translation and Poetry

2023/05/16

How many students know the name of Horiguchi Daigaku, who was a translator, poet, and tanka poet? After I published this book, I received happy messages from students saying, "The translator of the book I was reading was Horiguchi Daigaku!" In fact, even before that, I had seen students cherishing poetry collections translated by Horiguchi, and I believe people often encounter his translations without even realizing it. From that perspective, the role Horiguchi played as a translator is extremely significant. This book is an attempt to re-examine the activities of the translator Horiguchi Daigaku within the broader context of translated poetry collections and modern Japanese literature.

Horiguchi, who joined the Shinshisha (New Poetry Society) in his teens and began his career as a tanka poet in the literary magazine Subaru, had an inherent interest in new language. He then spent most of his twenties in foreign lands, accompanying his father on his diplomatic assignments. By carefully examining his activities in prominent literary magazines, we can see how Horiguchi Daigaku himself transformed into an exotic figure through the translations, poems, and essays he sent from distant foreign lands. Horiguchi attracted the attention of the literary world by publishing the translated poetry collection Gekka no Ichigun (A Group Under the Moon), and his use of colloquial style greatly inspired young readers. Those translated poems are still read by young people today.

It should also not be forgotten that Horiguchi energetically translated the works of Paul Morand, a French modernist writer said to have influenced the Shinkankakuha (New Sensationalist School), a group of young literary figures in Japanese modernist literature. From Horiguchi's essays on Morand and a detailed comparison between the original texts and the Japanese translations, it is clear that Horiguchi introduced Morand to the Japanese literary world as a "new" writer. Of course, Morand was known as a "new" writer in France as well, but Horiguchi's translations gained attention because they matched the "newness" sought in Japan at the time.

Looking at Horiguchi's confusion and nostalgia as a Japanese person in a foreign land—a rarity at the time—through his poetry and essays, we see that his creative world blends his identity in Japan with his identity abroad. By engaging with Horiguchi's work after reading this book, one might be able to appreciate its charm even more deeply.

Horiguchi Daigaku as Exoticism: The Fate of Exoticism in Translation and Poetry

Azusa Omura

Seikyusha

258 pages, 4,400 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.