Nishiwaki Junzaburō

Nishiwaki Junzaburō ( Japanese 西脇順三郎 ; * January 20, 1894 in Niigata Prefecture ; † June 5, 1982 ibid) was a Japanese writer.

Life

After graduating from high school, Nishiwaki went to Tokyo to study painting, but had to give up these plans after his father's death. Instead, he studied economics, English, German, Latin and Greek at Keio University . His talent for languages was so great that he began to write poetry in English and French. He was particularly impressed by TS Eliot , Ezra Pound and the French surrealists.

During a stay in England in 1922 he got to know modern Western European literature and in 1925 published a volume of English-language poems under the title Spectrum in London. Soon afterwards he returned to Japan and in 1926 became professor of English literary history at Keiō University. In 1927 he founded with Takiguchi Shūzō Japan's first magazine for surrealist poetry Fukuiki Taru Kafu yo ( 馥郁タル火夫ヨ ). The following year he brought out the magazine Shi to Shiron ( 詩と詩論 ). - Inspired by the artistic and linguistic achievements of Hagiwara Sakutarō , the most important poet of his time, Nishiwaki began to create experimental contemporary poems in Japanese. These were published under the title Ambarvalia 1933.

After the Pacific War, Nishiwaki published another large collection of poems under the title “No traveler returns” (旅人帰らず, Tabibito kaerazu). In 1952 he published his much-admired translation of Eliot's "The Wasteland". In 1953 he published his collection of poems "Modern Fables" (近代の寓話, Kindai no gūwa), the first example of his mature style. In 1960 he published his most important work, the collection of poems Ushinawareta Toki ( 失われた時 ).

In addition to his poetry, he continued teaching at Keiō University until he left in 1962, and remained active as a critic and translator, including his translations of Eliot's "Four Quartets", Shakespeare's sonnets, a larger collection of Mallarmé and Joyce's " Chamber Music ”should be mentioned.

In 1973 Nishiwaki was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Noma (Ed.): Nishikawa Junzaburō. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia

literature

S. Noma (Ed.): Nishikawa Junzaburō . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Nishiwaki, Junzaburō
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	西脇順三郎 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Japanese writer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 20, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH	Niigata prefecture
DATE OF DEATH	5th June 1982
Place of death	Niigata prefecture

[N-1] Noma (Ed.): Nishikawa Junzaburō. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia