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In an abrupt, yet hopefully plausible transition using serious playful irony—what the Renaissance thinkers called serio ludere, or playful seriousness—in order to transit, tresspass, and transgress rigid disciplinary boundaries, as well as difficult, resistant boundaries of various sorts, this brief paper moves abruptly from the secular economics of our contemporary postmodern world through the sacred economy of salvation in the thinking of such varied earlier figures as St. Paul, Mark Twain, and Jean Calvin to such related, if distinct, religious writings of antiquity as the Gospel of John and Gnostic texts on the economy of gift–giving, reflecting upon the relevant Greek terms along the way, and translating from the Hebrew, German, and Syriac, where needed, while also drawing upon the cultural anthropology of Mary Douglas, among other writers on food and drink, and then moving on into the paper’s decentered center, an un–derided jack–of–all–trades Derrida, then out again by means of literary critic David Lodge’s ironically postmodern comedy–of–manners novel Small World, to an optimistic conclusion through a counter–Feuerbachian deus ex machina move via the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka, though with a nod of metaphsical appreciation to the contemporary analytical philosopher William F. Vallicella and his concept of the extramental “external unifier,” all the while dealing with the paradoxical notion of the unreturnable gift that can, after all, be returned, such that reciprocity in divine–human dealings is maintained, with the result that the denoument of my essay dwindles ineluctably off into an indefinite ellipse …

In this essay I illuminate two disparate but concurrent ideas on the American cities of 1940–50s reflected in the stories about father–son relationship, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and August Wilson’s Fences. The urban space appears as irrevocable reality in both texts, and it functions as the main reason for the tragic demise of fathers and the problematic father–son relationship. Nonetheless, the protagonists as well as their sons in each play react to the city space in a diametrically opposed way: Willy Loman eludes the city, but Troy Maxson indulges in it; Biff and Happy succeed their father, but Cory defies and overcomes his. This essay explains this difference stemming from the same urban condition through interdisciplinary study of literature and socio–historical research of the American cities of mid–twentieth century. I begin by textual analysis of each play, of which aim is to manifest the gap in the characters’ attitudes, and in expansion, the plays’ standpoint concerning cities. Then I move on to explore the history of urbanization in America, and the influences of its particular phases on the discordant perspectives on American cities. Accordingly, Jeffersonian agrarianism originating from the 19th century that still held negative stance on the city in the 20th century is discussed in relation to the birth and expansion of American cities, which is clearly reflected in Death of a Salesman. On the other hand, the appearance of naturalism to which social determinism was an intrinsic element is discussed in step with the American ghetto formed by massive influx of foreign and local immigrants, which is vividly depicted in Fences.

The Modern Period in Korea started with the introduction of literary translation. Studies and research on translation work of the 1930s, however, omits the contribution of women translators. A closer analysis of The Ewha, even though a college publication, is very important in the history of literary translation by women in Korea. This paper attempts to discover the inner desires of Ewha College students who, through increasing access to foreign publications during their time at Ewha College have gained access to not just other languages but were able to get closer to these cultures by translating these works themselves in their own language. Translation courses were rigidly conducted as part of the curriculum and colonial rule. Ewha students were taught not only by foreign professors but also by Korean professors who had studied abroad. We can infer that their teachings sought to give more diversity in expression during the translation process. After graduation, many Ewha graduates published their translations in Korean newspapers and magazines, a result of the modern translation courses offered at Ewha College. Other Ewha graduates moved on to be creative writers, building on and successfully depicting their knowledge of the Western world they had acquired through their education. In conclusion, during the colonial period where male writers were the main contributors to all publications, publishing translations in The Ewha was a way for female students and writers to express themselves and also gain social acknowledgement. This study will attempt to state that the translation courses along with publications in The Ewha have played a central role in paving women’s way in society, as well as expressing the female intellectuals’ inner selves and female desires as they encountered knowledge of the Western world.

Choi Ik–han was an expert on almost all traditional and new reasoning systems that the intellectuals of the 1920–1930s colonized Joseon went through, or were passionate about. In particular, he is a clear example to show how an intellectual with knowledge of the past, symbolized in the form of Chinese ideograms, formed a new world of knowledge by experiencing a new outside world. This thesis focuses on such characteristics of Choi Ik–han to see his intellectual path and turning points in three dimensions so that we can discover the forming process of a modern body of knowledge and the dynamic possibility of the process. Moreover, this thesis suggests that translation was utilized as an important principle and practice so that a new knowledge base could be formed. This is what’s commonly found in the translations of that era, including Choi Ik–han’s. However, the act of translating (acceptance of culture) was not a unilateral and unconditional acceptance from Western empires, as the starting point of the modern civilization, to an Eastern colony. Such qualities were equally applied to Choi Ik–han’s translation (comprehension) of the traditions within Joseon. In other words, Choi Ik–han transferred “disposed and deniable traditional” assets into the new modern intellectual system that he was facing so that he could secure prospects in the future in the system. In this case, tradition doesn’t have an idolized authority but becomes an object that can be summoned in the specific aim to fulfill the necessities of my (people’s/reality’s) current self. His intellectual moves clearly prove the dynamic and generating power that overpowers the unilateral conveyance from the West to East, or any sharp severance between the medieval period and modern times, which have been made in the process of forming a new type of knowledge of Korea as a civilization in transition.

This paper examines the role of translation in modern Japanese literature. The formation of the modern novel in Meiji Japan is deeply connected to the style of translation. The uniqueness of modern Japanese literature is revealed when the personhood of aspects other than personal pronouns within the language are intentionally emphasized. The emphasis on personhood was influenced during the Meiji Period among intellectuals of the culture and style of translation. Morita Shiken, who is called the king of translation, clearly called attention to the new contemporary texts and readers. The direction of his stylistic revolution became much clearer after he took clues from translated novels. He rejected the conventional stereotypical expressions used when describing a condition or object. Shiken’s experimental style cooperates with Futabatei Shimei’s translations creating territory for expressions and also draws a clear line with the style of novels in the past. Through its concern with the individuality of the textual world, the limitations, and individuality of the characters, the modern novel was able to acquire the structure of narrative. The central focus of the translation work in modern Japan and also in other East Asian country was the establishment of a space for new writing. The superficial difference between styles that tried to combine the written word with the spoken or the slang with the elegant, the classical Chinese style, or the imitation of the classical style was not important. The common understanding of expression concealed behind these superficial differences is that we should comprehend the dynamic movement in the border expressions of this age.

As part of redeploying the theoretical potentiality of hybridity, I hold that more attention should be given to the discursive location of Asian minor locales against the discursive power of global metropolitan diasporic location. This attention leads us to a task of localizing hybridity, which can posit the concept of Asian “local” hybridity. The South Korean film, Banga, Banga!, is a cultural text that embodies it vividly. Korean subalterns and Asian migrant workers in the movie speak to people located in global metropolitan cities as well as Asian metropolises. To listen to them attentively, it is necessary to propose the concepts of sub–imperialism, Asian local patriarchy, and translocalism. The marginal city of Ansan emerges as a locale engaging in constant dialogue, exchange, and contestation with the sub–imperialistic and gendered political–economic structures of South Korea. Within such space, Korean subalterns and Asian migrant workers create another language through singing together in spite of their social and cultural differences and conflicts. As they traverse various axes of identity including ethnicity, race, class, and gender, they show their translocal identities and agencies to contest and oppose the sub–imperial Asian local patriarchy. As such, Asian “local” hybridity embodied in Banga, Banga! demonstrates something that is other than mere interstitiality, something that is a kind of other Asian identity with its own specific consciousness of language and self as well as its own dialogic and negotiatory capabilities through its translocal identities and agencies.

In this essay, I aim to analyze the process of translating Charles Darwin’s language to Chinese or Japanese Kanji, and also to contemplate on the usage and the newly attached meanings of the translated language of evolutionism in East Asia. To this end, I begin to trace Chinese and Japanese documents, including the papers and the magazines and some translated books which introduced evolutionary theory as scientific knowledge for the first time, published during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. As Darwin’s metaphorical expressions were given a more specific meaning through Japanese kanji by scholars such as Hiroyuki Kato, their role as a “theory” of evolution exploring the origin of life form was less recognized, and instead emphasis was placed on “evolutionism” which justified the power struggles between the strong and the weak. Second, I compare two Chinese translations of the European theory of evolution. One is Yan Fu’s direct translation of Thomas Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics, and the other is the first Chinese translation of Darwin’s Origin of Species based on the Japanese translation. Both translated versions diverged from Darwin’s usage of metaphors and were appropriated through the translator’s own pre–existing intellect and the surrounding social conditions. To sum up, Darwin’s use of metaphors was an appropriation of words written by previous scholars for the purpose of effectively delivering his opinion. However, beyond the West and its spatial boundaries of discourse, the words used in translating the theory of evolution were in fact not an example of metaphor but political action. In the culture sphere that shares Chinese characters, the Chinese translations that took place in countries that differ in culture and history were examples of an intersemiotic translation of language that closely resembled social practice.

The translation theory of “faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance” put forward by master translator Yan Fu played an important role in linking the past with the future. The theory did not come directly from sutra translation theories. However, the “elegance” element of Yan Fu’s theory expanded the theoretical meaning of the style–emphasizing school of sutra translators. Yan Fu holds that translation is to convey the profound meaning of the original author’s lifework in another language, and its mission is cultural exchanges and the preservation of ideas. It is through conveying true meanings despite the process of transformation that translation can honor its mission. He quoted Confucius to lend weight to “elegance” that “messages conveyed in plain and unadorned language have no lasting value.” “Faithfulness” and “expressiveness” together with “elegance” are interdependent and independent. They became the three gold words in translation theories, which increased the value of translation theories and shaped the basic structure of the modern translation system. Yan Fu’s translation of Evolution and Ethics is a perfect example of this style by which he is regarded as the first person to introduce modern ideas into China, to spread the idea of strengthening the nation and the military, and to write about the survival of the fittest and independence. Since then, translation theories in China have evolved in the constant dialectical relations between tradition and modernity. Theories such as “three lines,” “three resemblances,” “three beauties,” and “transmutation” have blossomed. Yan Fu struck a perfect balance between translation theory and practice. With his exemplary translated works of 1.7 million characters, he is held as a paragon for all times.