The power of aimai

[Laurie Berman]

The word 曖昧 is so . . . . 曖昧.

Seriously, though, it has come up in a piece about Japanese culture I'm translating. In the context of this particular discussion, 日本人の曖昧さ seems to be about passivity and a tendency to accommodate or go with the flow. I am inclined to use as many English words as necessary to convey the concept, rather than fix on a one-word English equivalent, but I need to come up with a translation for the title of a book the author cites:

日本の曖昧力 (O Seonhwa). Any ideas??

Laurie

[Steven P. Venti]

Laurie Berman <berma...@verizon.net> wrote:

> but I need to come up with a translation for the title of a book the author
> cites: 日本の曖昧力 (O Seonhwa). Any ideas??

The Joy of Being Deliberately Obtuse was the first thing that popped into my
head.

Perhaps something along the lines of The Benefits of Not Speaking Your Mind
might work.

FWIW

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Venti
spv...@bhk-limited.com

Sittin' by the water, stare into the stream,
Tell me, honey, are there any catfish in your dreams?
--Danny O'Keefe
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[Chris Poole]

How about the translator’s motto:

 

“Seek Refuge in Ambiguity!”

 

Chris

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[Hart Larrabee]

Hi Laurie,

I think the right title would depend a lot on the book's thesis, but it sounds like you're just looking to provide a reference translation for a citation of the Japanese work, rather than actually generate a title that would stand on its own. In such situations I usually opt not to get too creative.

In this case, I would probably stick to something relatively straight like _Japan's Power of Ambiguity_ or perhaps _The Japanese Capacity for Ambiguity_. If you're sure the book's thesis is more about passivity or accommodation in personal relationships, though, something incorporating _non-committal_ might work, too.

Sometime searching on Amazon reveals book cover images that incorporate "decorative" English titles. I tend to use these when they are available and not unforgivably bad. A quick check shows that a book with a title similar to the one you mention carries the English "The Power of Vagueness" on its cover. This isn't dreadful, so I'd probably use it if this were the book in question. (But of course it isn't.)
http://www.amazon.co.jp/曖昧力―日本人が育んできた“生きる知恵”-多湖-輝/dp/405403683X.

Good luck!

Hart
ha...@valley.ne.jp
Nagano, Japan

[Fred Uleman]

The Fudge Diet

- -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -- -
Fred Uleman, translator emeritus

[Chris Poole]

Funi,

 

How about “That awesome stuff they do in Japan” ?

 

Chris

--

[Andreas Rusterholz]

The subtitle of this book may help to find an appropriate
translation:

author: 呉　善花　（O Son Fa）
title:　日本の曖昧力
subtitle：　融合する文化が世界を動かす
see: http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4569708293

Andreas Rusterholz

[Jens Wilkinson]

Another through also, is that when Oe Kenzaburo got the Nobel prize
in1994, the lecture he gave used the word "ambiguous" in English where
the Japanese was "aimai" (I'm pretty sure).

--
Jens Wilkinson
Neo Patwa (patwa.pbwiki.com)

[Fred Uleman]

The Ambiguity Advantage

or

The Ambiguity Difference

[Peter Clark]

Boys be ambiguous
 
Peter Clark

[Toshihiro Nagasaka]

peterclarkatmbs> Boys be ambiguous Peter Clark

Peterさんに座布団一枚！(笑)

--
Toshihiro Nagasaka
長坂俊宏

[Steven P. Venti]

Peter Clark <petercl...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Boys be ambiguous

What do you mean by that? <g>

Seriously, though, is ambiguity really such a good fit to aimai? I tend to
think not.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Venti
spv...@bhk-limited.com

Catfish ain't expensive, neither is it free,
Some folks crazy 'bout it, others have to leave it be.
--Danny O'Keefe
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[Fred Uleman]

As Steve asks, Is ambiguity really a good fit?
Or is this more a hedging of bets -- like "Getting to Maybe"?
Or as the subtitle suggests, is it a fusing of cultures -- a willingness to borrow from everybody -- a rejection of fundamentalism?

[Mark Spahn]

> Seriously, though, is ambiguity really such a good fit to aimai?
> I tend to think not.

> Steve Venti

"Ambiguity" (ambi- = 両) refers to a choice between two clear meanings,
but you can't tell which meaning is meant.
"Vague" (= 曖昧) refers to not having a clear meaning at all.
Vague: "I wonder what he meant?"
Ambiguous: "I wonder which he meant?"
-- Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)

[Carl Freire]

On Feb 29, 2012, at 5:22 PM, Mark Spahn wrote:
>
>> Seriously, though, is ambiguity really such a good fit to aimai?
>> I tend to think not.
>> Steve Venti
>
> "Ambiguity" (ambi- = 両) refers to a choice between two clear meanings,
> but you can't tell which meaning is meant.

Further to Mark's point, cf. 両義性.

Cheers,
Carl

--------------------

Carl Freire
Tokyo, Japan
mailing list address:
carl_p_freire at ybb-dot-ne-dot-jp

[David J. Littleboy]

From: "Toshihiro Nagasaka" <naga...@green.ocn.ne.jp>

> peterclarkatmbs> Boys be ambiguous Peter Clark
>
> Peterさんに座布団一枚！(笑)

I disagree. It's worth at least three zabuton. Flipping brilliant. Best
Honyaku post in an age.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

[Eleanor Goldsmith]

> Mark Spahn wrote:
"Vague" (= 曖昧) refers to not having a clear meaning at all.
Vague: "I wonder what he meant?"
Ambiguous: "I wonder which he meant?"

Masters of Vagueness? (I'm sure they did a BBC session for John Peel once....)

Yours prog-rock-ishly,

Eleanor Goldsmith

[Dr. M. S. Niranjan]

(2012/02/29 16:43), Toshihiro Nagasaka wrote:
> peterclarkatmbs> Boys be ambiguous Peter Clark
>
> Peterさんに座布団一枚！(笑)
>

Peterさんに座布団もう一枚！（爆笑）

Dr. M. S.ニランジャン

[Shinya Suzuki]

Jens Wilkinson wrote:

> Another through also, is that when Oe Kenzaburo got the Nobel prize
> in1994, the lecture he gave used the word "ambiguous" in English where
> the Japanese was "aimai" (I'm pretty sure).

This is an excellent lead. The title of his speech is "Japan, The
Ambiguous, and Myself" (あいまいな日本の私).

Oe hinted on why he chose "ambiguous" rather than "vague" even
though he knew the latter word was equivalent to "aimaina."

[QUOTE]
I have used the English word vague as an equivalent of that word in
Japanese aimaina. This Japanese adjective could have several
alternatives for its English translation.
<big snip>
A moment ago I touched upon the 'vagueness' of the title and content
of Kawabata's lecture. In the rest of my lecture I would like to use
the word 'ambiguous' in accordance with the distinction made by the
eminent British poet Kathleen Raine; she once said of William Blake
that he was not so much vague as ambiguous. I cannot talk about
myself otherwise than by saying 'Japan, the Ambiguous, and Myself'.

My observation is that after one hundred and twenty years of modernisation
since the opening of the country, present-day Japan is split between
two opposite poles of ambiguity.
[UNQUOTE]
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1994/oe-lecture.html

Another webpage dealing with あいまいな日本:
http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/~sadami/extract/ambiguity/ambiguity.htm

In any case it seems safe to conclude that 曖昧な can mean not only
vague but also ambiguous (両義的, 多義的, etc).

Shinya Suzuki

[JK]

Given your description of the context, and this subtitle:

>title:　日本の曖昧力
>subtitle：　融合する文化が世界を動かす

I don't think "vagueness" or "ambiguity" would get that across. How
about "The Power of Pliability" or "The Power of Passivity?"

Jennifer Krafft
Kyoto, Japan

[Laurie Berman]

On Feb 29, 2012, at 8:41 AM, JK wrote:

Given your description of the context, and this subtitle:

title:　日本の曖昧力

subtitle：　融合する文化が世界を動かす

I don't think "vagueness" or "ambiguity" would get that across. How
about "The Power of Pliability" or "The Power of Passivity?"

I think you're right. I think it's about flexibility, accommodation, taking the middle road, not asserting oneself, not viewing things in black-and-white terms. (Can't really use passivity, though, since the author says it's not passive.)

Laurie

[Doreen Simmons]

I understand that Oe's acceptance speech was translated by a Japanese
professor (whom I have known for years). When the prof. addressed the
Asiatic Society a few years ago, Oe was actually present, scribbling
furiously on the programme and (later) piece of scrap paper I handed
him, and at the end made several comments. If memory srves me, he
spoke in Japanese, though he had, of course, made his notes while
listening to the English lecture. I don't have the archive in front of
me to check the content, however.

Doreen Simmons

[Joel]

The Vagaries of Vagueness

Joel Dechant