Japan through Western eyes in Stupeur et Tremblements by Amélie Nothomb

Interpretation prevailing over translation

Bibliographic Data

ID12879778
AuthorsNurit Buchweitz (0000-0001-9381-4107, Beit Berl College, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume18
Issue9
Publication date2021-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLiterature Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1741-4113 • E-ISSN: 1741-4113
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lic3.12647
OpenAlexW3209806963
LanguageFR
References cited5

Amélie Nothomb's 1999 novel Stupeur et Tremblements portrays the misadventures, misunderstandings, and misgivings experienced by a Belgian professional in a large, modern Japanese workplace. This book is often read as an autobiographical account of the author's Japanese experience and a satirical critique of Japanese society. I argue that, while the narrator is unable to perform the duty for which she was hired, as a translator, she acts as an interpreter of Japanese mores. Always and indelibly perceived within the boundaries of Western culture in the novel, Japan becomes a stylised construct replete with references to Western concepts. My article sheds light on how this construct takes shape in the text by focusing on the narrative techniques that foreground the narrator's immersion in Western culture, including allusions to Alice ' s Adventures in Wonderland , paraphrasing and injecting meaning, namedropping key Western figures and concepts, and using the eye as a recurring motif and metaphor

Adventure · Art · Art history · Construct (python library · Duty · Interpretation (philosophy · Interpreter · Linguistics · Literature · Meaning (existential · Metaphor · Mores · Narrative · Politics · Western culture · Western literature · Computer Science · History · Narrative Theory and Analysis · Philosophy · Psychology · Translation Studies and Practices

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