Abstract
As Gérard Genette rightly pointed out, we don't read books as "tabulae rasae". We never read a text without first going through paratexts such as the author's name, title, preface or commentary. In other words, the reader is psychologically influenced by the paratext even before he or she begins reading. In fact, paratexts occupy the "privileged place of a pragmatics and a strategy, of an action on the public in the service, well or badly understood and accomplished, of a better reception of the text of a more pertinent reading" (Seuils, 1987, p.8). In the case of a literary translation for which little prior information is available, paratexts take on even greater importance. Indeed, the commentary accompanying the text sets out in advance the genre and evaluation of the work, more or less imposing a certain way of reading on the reader.
During the Cold War, the translation of foreign literature also had political implications. In particular, the translation of Japanese literature was received very differently in Western and Eastern Europe. While Yukio Mishima and Junichiro Tanizaki were actively translated in the West, Kobo Abe was the favorite in the East. These differences in reception are clearly visible in the commentaries, prefaces and other paratexts that accompany the translations. This talk will examine reception during the Cold War through a paratextual reading of translations of Japanese literature.
