Jürgen Berndt

Jürgen Berndt (born May 31, 1933 in Lauterbach (Rügen) ; died August 16, 1993 in Perugia , Italy ) was a German Japanologist, translator and editor of Japanese literature.

life and work

In 1952 Jürgen Berndt began studying Sinology and Japanese Studies with Professors Eckardt (1905–1969), Ramming and Zachert at the Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1957 he completed his studies in Japanese Studies and took on a scientific candidate. In 1959 he began teaching modern Japanese literature and language, from 1961 he worked as a research assistant at the East Asian Institute of the Humboldt University. In 1963 the doctorate to Dr. phil., 1964 appointed acting head of the Japanese Studies department at the East Asian Institute. From 1968 to 1970 he was Deputy Director for Research in the Asian Studies Section founded in 1968. In 1973 he was appointed university lecturer for Japanese literature and in 1979 he was appointed full professor. Professor of Japanese Studies.

In 1984 Berndt established the Mori-Ôgai memorial and was its director until 1993. In cooperation with Tōkai University , he organized the international symposium "Japan Today" in Berlin. In 1989 he was awarded honorary membership in the Mori-Ôgai Society Tōkyō. In 1990 Berndt was elected acting director of the Institute for Japanese Studies. From 1990 to 1991 he was visiting professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto. In 1993 he was elected managing director of the “Mori-Ōgai Memorial Fund”. Together with Siegfried Schaarschmidt , he was posthumously awarded the Noma Translator Prize (間 文 芸 翻 訳 賞, Noma bungei hon'yaku-shō) of the Kōdansha- Verlag in 1993 for his oeuvre. (Berndt died in Perugia (Italy) in August 1993.)

The Japanologist Jaqueline Berndt is married to Berndt's son Enno.

Publications

• The Banshū Plain. 3 stories by Miyamoto Yuriko, Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1960 (translation and epilogue.) 334 pp.
• Japanese short stories. 16 novellas by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1964 (edition, translation and commentary), epilogue. 370 pp. A selection of these was published by Diogenes Verlag Zurich in 1966, and a partial translation into Dutch by Meulenhoff in 1969.
• The gate from Tokyo . Novel by Natsume Sōseki (original title: Botchan), Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1965 (translation in collaboration with Seiei Shinohara), epilogue. 179 p. New edition: Theseus Verlag, Zurich 1990
• Japanese threepenny opera. Novel by Kaikō Takeshi (original title: Nihon sanmon opera), Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1967 (translation). 360 p.
• Japanese dramas . Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1968 (edition and partial translation and epilogue.) 397 pp.
• Red Leaves - Old Japanese Poetry . Insel-Verlag, Leipzig 1972 (edition, translation and epilogue.) 130 pp.
• The story of a vengeance . 20 short stories and short stories by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1973 (edition, translation and commentary), 387 pp.
• Rashomon. Selected short prose by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke. Library of World Literature, Volk und Welt Verlag, Berlin 1975 (edition, commentary, translation and epilogue). 626 S., 2nd edition 1982 (1st edition ex libris Volk und Welt) Review, new commentary for the series Orientalische Bibliothek, Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1985, 4th edition 1991. That .: Licensed edition Beck-Verlag, Munich 1985.
• Dreams of Ten Nights - Modern Japanese Tales . Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1975 (edition, partial translation and epilogue.) 681 pp., 2nd edition 1980. Modified new edition: Theseus Verlag, Zurich 1992.
• Sea and poison. Novel by Endō Shūsaku (original title: Umi to Dokuyaku), Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1976 (translation). 198 pp., 2nd edition 1982. Licensed editions: FH Kerle-Verlag, Freiburg - Heidelberg 1982, 214 pp., Fischer paperback edition 1984, 152 pp.
• Plum blossoms at night. Twelve stories by Ibuse Masuji, Reclam-Verlag, Leipzig 1981 (edition, commentary and translation) 205 pp., 2nd revised edition 1985. Licensed editions: Ostasien-Verlag, Berlin (West) 1986, 205 pp., Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1990
• Proverbs from Japan. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1984, 2nd revised edition 1986
• As if it were the last light of the moon - a hundred poems by a hundred poets. Japanese anthology of poetry from the 13th century (original title: Hyakunin isshu), Verlag Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1986 (edition, translation and commentary). That .: Licensed edition Insel Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1987. Revised new edition: edition q, berlin 1992
• On that day - literary evidence about Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1985 (publication, partial translation, overall editing).
• The samurai. Novel by Endō Shūsaku (original title: Samurai), Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1988, 380 p. (Translation, commentary). That .: Licensed edition Schneekluth Verlag, Munich 1987, 408 pp.
• Requiem . Story by Gō Shizuko (original title: Rekuiemu), Orlanda Frauenverlag, Berlin (West) 1987, 157 pp. (Translation). That .: The darkened sun - A Requiem, Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1988, 182 p. (Translation and commentary).
• Pushed out. Novel by Shimazaki Tōson (original title: Hakai), Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1989, 307 p. (Translation and afterword). That .: Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1989, 307 pp.
• Sin. Novel by Endō Shūsaku (original title: Sukyandaru), Schneekluth Verlag, Munich 1990, 274 pp.
• Poems by Ishikawa Takuboku, Nakano Shigeharu, Takenaka Iku and Tanikawa Shuntarō (adaptation) . In: ad libitum collection dispersion. No. 15; Volk und Welt publishing house, Berlin 1990, pp. 192-200.
• Akutagawa Ryūnosuke - thought fragments . (Translator). In: ad libitum collection dispersion. No. 16; Volk und Welt publishing house, Berlin 1990.
• Good is best done right away. 100 proverbs from Japan . (Editing and translation), edition q, Berlin 1992.
• The volcano. Novel by Endō Shūsaku (original title: Kazan), Herder Verlag, Freiburg 1992, 180 pp.
• Darkness of a summer . Roman by Kaikō Takeshi (original title: Natsu no Yami), edition q, Berlin 1993, 235 pp.
• Out in the silence . (Original title: Tsurezuregusa). Collection of essays from the 14th century. (Translation and commentary) edition q, Berlin 1993, 280 pp.
• The ballet girl. Story by Mori Ōgai (original title: Maihime), edition q, Berlin 1994, 106 S. Translation, with an afterword by Ursula Berndt and excerpts from the "Deutschlandtagebuch 1884–1888" by Mori Ōgai (edited and translated from Japanese by Heike Schöche , Tübingen 1992, bankruptcy book publisher Claudia Gehrke).

Web links

• Berndt's curriculum vitae and list of publications