From the ice age to the inter ice age:
Abe Kōbō’s Daiyon kanpyōkiin the translations of Agu Sisask and Arkady Strugatsky
Keywords: translation history, translation studies, translation criticism, translated literature, science fiction
This article examines how Abe Kōbō’s science fiction novel Daiyon kanpyōki (“Inter Ice Age 4”) reached Estonian readers in 1966 through Agu Sisask’s translation. Having come to Sisask by somewhat accidental means, the work became an important part of the local literary canon, influencing theoretical debates on the nature of science fiction and challenging the Western-centric tendencies characteristic of such discussions.
A year before the Estonian translation appeared in print, Arkady Strugatsky’s Russian translation was published (1965). In addition to serving as the basis for several indirect translations issued in the Soviet Union, it also functioned as the model for the Serbian and Hungarian versions. Translations based on the Russian version are easily identifiable, as Strugatsky mistakenly rendered the word kanpyōki (‘inter ice age’, i.e. ‘interglacial’) as ‘ice age’. A comparative analysis of the Estonian and Russian translations reveals numerous stylistic and lexical similarities between the two versions. Both Strugatsky’s and Sisask’s texts rely on the earliest version of Abe’s work, published in 1958–59 in the journal Sekai, aimed at Japanese intellectuals; this version differs in several important respects from the revised and expanded edition cited as the source text in Loomingu Raamatukogu.
In addition to examining the cultural-historical background and comparing the translations, the study highlights the central role of the translator in shaping the literary canon. Whereas in the English-speaking world the so-called great triumvirate of Japanese authors (Tanizaki, Kawabata, Mishima) predominated, in Estonia Sisask first introduced readers to writers of a younger generation (Abe, Endō). The comparison of the translations and the contextualization within literary history demonstrate how the choices of a single translator – Agu Sisask – significantly influenced the reception of Japanese literature in Estonia and shaped the preferences of the local readership.
Alari Allik(b. 1973), PhD, Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at Tallinn University (Narva mnt 29, 10120 Tallinn), alari.allik@tlu.ee.
References
KÄSIKIRJALISED ALLIKAD
Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum (EKM), Eesti Kultuurilooline Arhiiv (EKLA)
f 283 – Loomingu Raamatukogu. Tõlked, käsikirjad, kirjavahetust.
VEEBIVARAD
ABSOS = Переводы. – Аркадий и Борис Стругацкие. Официальный сайт. https://www.rusf.ru/abs/trans.htm
Strugatski 1985 = Аркадий Стругацкий, Из выступлений на встречах с читателями и переводчиками. Саратов, июль 1985 г. – Аркадий и Борис Стругацкие. Официальный сайт. https://www.rusf.ru/abs/ans-trns.htm
KIRJANDUS
Abe Kōbō 1958. Daiyon kanpyōki 第四間氷期 [Neljas jäävaheaeg]. – Sekai, nr 7, lk 251.
Abe Kōbō 1959. Daiyon kanpyōki 第四間氷期 [Neljas jäävaheaeg]. Tōkyō: Kōdansha.
Abe Kōbō 1964. Daiyon kanpyōki 第四間氷期 [Neljas jäävaheaeg]. Tōkyō: Hayakawa.
Abe 1965 = Абэ Кобо, Четвертый ледниковый период. Перев. Аркадий Стругацкий. (Библиотека современной фантастики в 15 томах. Том 2.) Москва: Молодая гвардия.
Abe Kōbō 1966. Neljas jääaeg. Tlk Agu Sisask. – Loomingu Raamatukogu, nr 11–13. Tallinn: Perioodika.
Abe Kōbō 1970. Inter Ice Age 4. Tlk E. Dale Saunders. New York: Albert A. Knopf.
Agur, Ustus 1966. Teadus, kirjandus, fantaasia. Mõttemõlgutusi teadusliku fantastika ümber. – Sirp ja Vasar 2. IX, lk 4–5; 9. IX, lk 3.
Berežkov 2018 [1965] = С. Бережков, От переводчика. – Аркадий Стругацкий, Борис Стругацкий. Полное cобрание сочинений в 33 томах. Том 9. Сост. Светлана Бондаренко, Виктор Курильский, Юрий Флейшман. Санкт-Петербург: Изд-во Сидорович, с. 291–293.
Fowler, Edward 1992. Rendering words, traversing cultures: On the art and politics of translating modern Japanese fiction. – The Journal of Japanese Studies, kd 18, nr 1, lk 1–44. https://doi.org/10.2307/132706
Jaanits 2019 = Sisse elades, nautides ja püüdes hetke enne loomist. Agu Sisaskiga vestles Maarja Jaanits. – Tõlkija hääl VII. Eesti Kirjanike Liidu tõlkijate sektsiooni aastaraamat. Tallinn: Kultuurileht, lk 143–155.
Kaalep, Ain 1964. Kolme tulevikufantaasiat üle lugedes. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 11, lk 641–647.
Kaplinski, Jaan 2010. Ideofoonidest meil ja mujal. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 2, lk 133–136.
Kapur, Nick 2018. Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge–London: Harvard University Press.
Keler, Vladimir 1968. Homo sapiens – mõistusega inimene. Tlk Arlentin Laisaar, H. Hein. Tallinn: Valgus.
Kruus, Oskar 1966. Belletristilisest fantastikast. – Sirp ja Vasar 12. VIII, lk 1, 6.
Kruus, Tuuli 1975. Fantastika lastekirjanduses. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 8, lk 449–457.
Lotman 2010 = Юрий Михайлович Лотман, Непредсказуемые механизмы культуры. (Bibliotheca Lotmaniana.) Таллинн: TLU Press.
Okuno Takeo 1964. Nihon no SF to Abe Kōbō 日本のSFと阿部公房. – Abe Kōbō, Daiyon kanpyōki. Tōkyō: Hayakawa, lk 206–209.
Okuno Takeo 1974. Abe Kōbō: sono hito to sakuhin 阿部公房:その人と作品. – Sekai SF zenshū, kd 27, lk 483–493.
Rudnytska, Nataliia 2022. Translation and the formation of the Soviet canon of world literature. – Translation Under Communism. Toim Christopher Rundle, Anne Lange, Daniele Monticelli. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, lk 39–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79664-8_3
Schnellbächer, Thomas 2004. Abe Kōbō, Literary Strategist. The Evolution of his Agenda and Rhetoric in the Context of Postwar Japanese Avant-garde and Communist Artists’ Movements. (Iaponia Insula – Studien zu Kultur und Gesellschaft Japans 13.) München: Iudicium Verlag.
Simon, Erik 2004. The Strugatskys in political context. – Science Fiction Studies, kd 31, nr 3. Soviet Science Fiction: The Thaw and After, lk 378–406. https://doi.org/10.1525/sfs.31.3.378
Strugatski 2018 [1964] = Аркадий Стругацкий, Борис Стругацкий. Переписка, 1964. – Аркадий Стругацкий, Борис Стругацкий. Полное собрание сочинений в 33 томах. Том 8. Сост. Светлана Бондаренко, Виктор Курильский, Юрий Флейшман. Санкт-Петербург: Изд-во Сидорович, с. 475–547.
Strugatski 2022 = „Улитка на склоне” (1965). – Борис Вишневский, Двойная звезда. Миры братьев Стругацких. Санкт-Петербург: Дом Галича, с. 97–106.
Tomberg, Jaak 2004. Noovum keeles. Keskmenihetest postmodernistlikus teaduslikus fantastikas. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 11, lk 830–840.
Veidemann, Rein 2000. Mees visa kui Sisask. – Eesti Päevaleht 21. VIII, lk 6.