Tokyo: The life of a literary giant begins with home self-defense!

Chapter 274 Mutual Learning among Civilizations and the Reconstruction of World Literature 2
In mid-May, Tokyo officially enters the rainy season.

The roadside trees look green in the rain.

Ryukawa Toru walked along the Meiji Jingu Gaien to the Hanzomon Apartments.

The girl must have dressed up specially, wearing a floral dress, her shoulder-length hair was braided in a small bunch with colorful braids, and the lip gloss on her small mouth was as crystal clear as a peach pink like strawberry pudding.

"Why aren't you wearing the one I gave you?"

Longchuan Che tilted his head.

He was wearing a brown British-style coat and a deerstalker hat today. He had originally planned to create a Sherlock Holmes and Watson combination with his girlfriend, but it seems his plan has now been ruined.

"Who wears that on a date?"

Songzhi Muzi blushed and twirled her fingers around her hair.

Although I know it’s not convenient for my boyfriend to appear in public right now, girls all love beauty, and it would be too embarrassing to play the detective duo play with him.

Longchuan Che shrugged and took the other person under his umbrella.

The raindrops broke into petals on the ground and then hit the girl's feet in lace-up sandals.

Longchuan Che took a glance and saw that the other person's toenails were painted with transparent nail polish, which was pink and tender, and looked like ten cherry blossoms neatly arranged, very cute.

“Doesn’t this coach know how to scold?”

Longchuan Che pinched his chin.

In addition to being a student at the Faculty of Sports Science at Waseda University, Matsueda is also a reserve member of the national volleyball team.

Occasionally I go to training camp, but such obvious dressing seems not allowed.

"Just shave it off when the time comes."

Songzhi Muzi stepped on the water with her feet. She went to the drugstore last night to buy her cosmetics. She used to be so beautiful without makeup, but after falling in love, she likes dressing up more and more.

Go from Shinjuku to Bunkyo.

The University of Tokyo is located at Hongo 7-chome, Bunkyo-ku.

Seeing Longchuan Toru reading the materials of "Mutual Learning among Civilizations and Reconstruction of World Literature", Songeda Muko was a little curious.

"Archer, what is the reconstruction of world literature?"

The two seemed to be traveling at an off-peak time. The tram, which was usually crowded, was not crowded now. Their umbrellas were wrapped in plastic bags by Songzhi Muzi. The girl blinked her eyes, not knowing why Longchuan Tetsu suddenly wanted to go to this exchange meeting.

“Reconstruction of World Literature?”

Longchuan Che pinched his chin.

Simply put, world literature is a general term for literature all over the world, which includes literature from various regions and countries.

The reconstruction of world literature is a multi-dimensional concept, and the girl's question really stumped him for a moment.

Longchuan Che closed his phone, which contained the specific address of the exchange meeting that he had asked someone for.

Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo.

The University of Tokyo attached great importance to this exchange meeting, and even officials from the Ministry of Education participated.

Thinking carefully about the process of this exchange meeting, Longchuan Che continued to answer his girlfriend.

“World literature is both a general term and a concept, that is, transforming regional literature into circulating literature. It is a metaphysical concept. I have made simple use of world literature in my previous Youth Trilogy.”

It seemed that I shouldn’t ask this question. The athlete’s brain was a little frozen.

"What about reconstruction?"

The girlfriend pretended to understand.

"It's war."

Longchuan Che patted the water droplets on the hem of his clothes, acting a little nonchalant.

"Has Archer reached the age of Chuunibyou?" Matsueda pinched her chin like her good friend, with a smile on her face. World literature is circulating literature, the form in which works from various countries flow to the world.

The athlete's brain raced and he understood.

“Once translated, all works cease to be the unique product of their original culture: they become works that ‘originate’ only in their native language.”

“When a work enters world literature, it acquires a new life. To understand this new life, we need to carefully examine how the work is reconstructed in translation and in the new cultural context.”

Ryuukawa Toru pinched the face of his girlfriend who said she had a chuunibyou syndrome.

"The concept of reconstructing the local environment and entering the world does sound very beautiful, but what is the standard for this reconstruction? Have you ever thought about it, Muzi?"

"standard?"

Songzhi Muzi was stunned.

To enter the world from the local area, we need to translate and consider the cultures of different countries.

In the process of reconstruction, we need to consider other countries’ culture.
"In terms of influence, British literature, French literature, Russian literature and other Western literatures dominate the world's literary influence. The so-called reconstruction is the process of approaching Western literature."

The little eyebrows gradually thickened, and even Songzhi Muzi felt that something was wrong.

“It’s kind of like a.”

"Assimilation, you can understand it that way." Longchuan Che raised his eyebrows and looked at his girlfriend with an expression that said, "Do you think I'm still a chuunibyou?"

In Literary Theory, Warren and Wellek proposed three levels of definition of world literature: literature as a whole; the great treasure house of literary masters; the collective name for all literature in the world;

But Damrosch calls world literature an "elliptical refraction" of national literatures.

Since it is a reflection, there will be losses. In the international market where Western literature occupies the mainstream, the so-called reconstruction of local literature is a process of constantly eroding itself.

"This is an invasion of Western literature on us, Muzi-san."

“Just like Latin America once was.”

The world literary scene in the 20th century was a period of great explosion. Every country had its own literary giant who influenced the world. Russia had Leo Tolstoy; France had Marcel Proust; Germany had Thomas Mann; Austria had Kafka; and the Czech Republic had Kundera.

"However, due to its special ethnic structure, including African immigrants, Indians and descendants of black slaves, Latin America has a strong ability to be inclusive. The Latin American literary school is the projection of various trends of world literature in Latin America. It is too close to Western literature, so it has lost the former holy book "Popol Vuh" and the unique Latin American myth of the corn man."

“Latin America is the origin of the unique myth of the corn people, but now Western magical realism prevails.”

Ryuukawa Toru stared at his girlfriend.

"Do you still think there's something wrong with me using the word war, Muzi-san?"

From Ryukawa Tetsu's point of view, the process of reconstructing world literature is the process of losing local culture.

Songzhi Muzi tilted his head.

“So we go.”

He seemed to portray those Western scholars as villains, so what about her and Ryukawa Toru?
"Do you want to see if there's any place you can help?"

Songzhi Muzi knocked his hands together with his fists, and his eyes lit up.

I didn't expect that my boyfriend, who looks a bit lazy, actually has a strong sense of national pride.

For preventing his country's literature from being assimilated by the West, shouldn't he be labeled a hero?

Longchuan Che narrowed his eyes and smiled without saying anything. His girlfriend was good in every way, but sometimes she was just too innocent and cute.

When they arrived at the Institute of Oriental Culture at the University of Tokyo, they found that people from other schools were not allowed to enter.

"Ah, why is this?"

Songzhi Muzi had a bitter face. In her heart, her boyfriend had become a national hero who was about to appear on the stage.

What if the hero is blocked at the door?
When Matsueda Muko looked a little worried, Ryukawa Toru hesitated and called a girl from the University of Tokyo.

(End of this chapter)