7. Juli 2016

Reporting on the recent Nichibunken Symposium, Reevaluating Translation as a Driving Force of Scholarship (Feb. 2016), Riggs will review some of the highlights of the presentations and discussion which took up the issues of Japan-based programs in scholarly translation from Japanese to English: bridging the scholarly divide, collaboration among scholars, collaboration of scholars and professionals, funding, publishing and distribution, and so on.

       As the consummate form of learning and research, translation’s usefulness as a platform for training students to write, read, research, and integrate what they learn deserves to be explored. Based on 15 years teaching a course on Japanese-to-English translation for undergraduates, and 25 years co-managing a small translation firm specializing in social sciences and humanities content, Riggs will reflect on some ideas about training translators of scholarship and the challenges of making non-commercial projects sustainable.

 

Lynne E. Riggs

Lynne E. Riggs is a professional translator and editor based in Tokyo. With Takechi Manabu, she translates mainly nonfiction works through their company, the Center for Intercultural Communication (www.cichonyaku.com). Subscriptions manager and assistant editor of The Japan Interpreter 1976–1980; translator and editor for translated periodicals such as the Japan Quarterly, the Japan Foundation Newsletter, Japanese Book News, Gaikō Forum (English edition), AGLOS News, and Nikken Journal, art catalogs, and books. Translator of Nichibunken monographs by Shirahata Yozaburō, Daimyō Gardens (co-translation with Imoto Chikako; forthcoming 2016); Hayami Akira, The Influenza Pandemic in Japan, 1918–1920 (2015); Sueki Fumihiko, Philosophy Live: A Perspective from Japan (tentative title; forthcoming); Isomae Jun’ichi, Religious Discourse in Modern Japan (co-translation with Galen Amstutz, 2014); Yamada Shoji, The Logic of “Pirate” Publishing (2012). Managing editor, Monumenta Nipponica (1997 to 2009). Part-time teacher of Japanese-to-English translation, International Christian University 2000-2015. Founding and currently active member of the Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators and coordinating editor of the SWET Newsletter, 2004-2012; editor, monthly (online) SWET Bulletin, 2012-present. She was co-coordinator of the Nichibunken symposium, Reevaluating Translation as a Driving Force of Scholarship (Feb. 27-28, 2016).