Kamisama in Poland. a Few Reflections on the Reception of Kawakami Hiromi’S Works in Poland

Beata Kubiak Ho-Chi Kamisama in Poland. A Few reflections on the reception of Kawakami Hiromi’s works in Poland Kamisama in Poland. A Few reflections on the reception of Kawakami Hiromi’s works in Poland Beata Kubiak Ho-Chi Introduction On the 23rd of October 2019 between 2:00 and 3:00 PM, in the monumental hall of the former Warsaw University Library, Kawakami Hiromi, a Japanese writer already known in Poland for several of her works, signed the Polish translation of her two short stories contained in the miniature collection entitled Kamisama 2011 (pol. Niedźwiedzi Bóg, eng. God bless you 2011.)1 She was expected by several dozen people, who were predominantly young people in their 20s-30s. The translation of the collection, prepared on the occasion of this special guest’s arrival at the Chair of Japanese Studies at the University of Warsaw, had arrived from the printing house to the Tajfuny publishing house just a few hours earlier. A considerable logistic balancing exercise was required by the publishing house in order to provide almost warm books on time and, most importantly, to organize sales for Kawakami’s fans awaiting her arrival. Admittedly, the publishing house announced some time earlier the advance sale of God bless you still in print at that time, but not all readers awaiting the authoress’s autograph had the opportunity to buy the book. Although it must be admitted that most people knew about the upcoming event in advance, as the interest of Japanese literature lovers – potential readers of Kawakami’s newly translated short stories – has been fueled by the publishing house for a long time already, with relevant information spread on social media… The above description, which consists of many elements – subjects, activities, emotions – falls under the problem of contemporary literary reception and is an important part of the study on the phenomenon of world literature.2 In this article, assuming the understanding of world literature – according to David Damrosch – as literature covering “all literary works that circulate beyond their culture of origin either in translation or in their original language”3 and which, through various types of activities, are confronted with the new culture, I am analyzing the reception of Kawakami Hiromi’s work in the new cultural context created for her by the Polish literary space. Basing on the assumption that each culture has its own world literature 4, I will reflect on the place of Kawakami's work in Polish world literature, what is the role of ideological and cognitive factors in the reception of her work, what is the place of the translator and publishing houses. In other words, I will try to answer the question about what caused that the works of this particular writer were transferred from the national resources of Japanese literature, to – as Pascal Casanova puts it – the “republic of world れにくさ（第 10-1 号） | 235 〈論文〉 literature”5, where transnational exchange, production and literature reception take place. In this particular case, those will be literature resources read by Polish readers, who mostly do not know Japanese and who rely on translation. Kawakami’s work in the Japanese literary niche in Poland Kawakami Hiromi needs no special introduction in Poland. Her work has been present on our reading market for over a decade and a half, as the writer's story Hebi o fumu (pol. Nadepnęłam na węża, eng. A Snake stepped on), in the Polish translation of Barbara Słomka, appeared in the leading literary magazine Literature in the World (Literatura na Świecie) in 2002.6 Japanese literature in Poland, like Polish literature in Japan, in the general consciousness, forms a part of the mainstream literature called minor, occupying a niche position among Polish translations of foreign literature. It is perceived as a literature, generally speaking, “slightly different” compared with Euro-American literature, interesting, and its national character in the public perception constantly evokes associations with the intriguing taste of the Orient. A representative example here is the review of Kawakami’s prose, posted on the well-known book blog “Lost Library”, where one of the regular reviewers of this fantastic literature site, writes: “I like meeting authors from distant, exotic corners of the world. And Japan is definitely such a distant country for me. Even though I have read several novels by Murakami, from what I heard – not so Japanese, and I read The Woman in the Dunes by Abe Kobo and Onnagata by Yukio Mishima, I am by no means an expert on literature from this exotic country.7 Kawakami is one of several highly regarded contemporary Japanese writers, translated into many languages, whose short stories and novels have appeared in Poland in recent years. And at the same time, she is an undeniable winner when it comes to the number of titles published in Poland – they are as many as five. They include the collection of short stories Hebi o fumu translated by Barbara Słomka (eng. A Snake stepped on, 2010), which includes the title story and two other – Kieru (pol. Znikają, eng. Missing) and Atarayoki (pol. Zapiski z pewnej niezwykłej nocy, eng. Record of a night too brief). The same translator is also the author of the translation of the story by Kawakami entitled Manazuru (pol. and eng. Manazuru, 2011). In the following years, two other Kawakami’s works appeared in Poland: Furudōgū Nakano shoten (eng. The Nakano thrift store) and Sensei no kaban, (eng. The Teacher's briefcase, 2013) – both novels translated by Anna Zalewska. And finally, the last work by Kawakami, which recently appeared in our country, is the already mentioned mini collection of two short stories, Kamisama (2019). The editions of Kawakami’s prose are in line with the modern, free-market publishing trend that developed in Poland after 1989. This date has become a peculiar symbol that divides Poland's recent history into times before and after 1989. It shows a huge political, economic and social 236 | 現代文芸論研究室論集 2020 Beata Kubiak Ho-Chi Kamisama in Poland. A Few reflections on the reception of Kawakami Hiromi’s works in Poland metamorphose, thanks to which socialist Poland, with a centrally controlled economy, entirely dependent on the Soviet Union, became a sovereign, democratic parliamentary republic with a liberal economy. Like many state institutions, publishing houses were privatized after 1989, which completely changed the Polish book market. While state publishing houses were subsidized by the government, since 1989, they had to support themselves primarily from the budget generated from sales, and it was up to their decisions, which foreign works would be published in Poland. Therefore, the decision-making capacity of publishing houses increased, depending on free market factors. Much has changed in the Japanese literature itself, in which women started to play an increasingly important role since the 1980s, receiving more and more prestigious Japanese literary awards and invited to participate in award committees. It feminized Japanese literary works incorporated into world literature. Earlier, since the beginning of the 20th century until 1989, translations were published in Poland (sometimes through intermediate languages, mainly English, less often French) of already internationally renowned writers, such as Natsume Sōseki, Kawabata Yasunari, Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, Mishima Yukio, Ōe Kenzaburō, Endō Shūsaku, Ōoka Shōhei, Ibuse Masuji, Noma Hiroshi or Abe Kōbō. Those were exclusively works written by authors with an established position in androcentrically oriented Japanese literary circles (bundan). However, after 1989, translations of Japanese authoresses’ works began to appear as well, both those pertaining to the older generation, such as Higuchi Ichiyō, Enchi Fumiko and Sawako Ariyoshi, as well as those writing contemporarily – along with Kawakami Hiromi, in Poland also appeared the prose of Yoshimoto Banana, Yamada Eimi, Ogawa Yōko, Tawada Yōko, Tsushima Yūko, Natsuo Kirino, Kanehara Hitomi or Ekuni Kaori. From Hebi o fumu to Kamisama 2011 – postmodern publishing strategies and ideals “We publish what we like” - this is the well-known motto of the Karakter publishing house8, which was the first to publish Kawakami’s prose in book format, in 2010. It was the already mentioned collection of three short stories Hebi o fumu. The publisher's website reads in a similar vein: “We exist since 2008. We share with readers what we are interested in and what we consider important. We want to break with cultural stereotypes and prejudices, introduce new topics, other sensibilities and fresh aesthetics into the circulation of Polish culture. We publish fiction and non- fiction from around the world. (...)”9 It is on the basis of such ideals of openness – of introducing into the Polish literature "otherness" understood as aesthetic and ethical diversity, often coinciding with cultural and geographical otherness – that Karakter has built its publishing policy. The prose published by れにくさ（第 10-1 号） | 237 〈論文〉 Karakter is bold, of high artistic value, not necessarily coinciding with popular tastes – and Kawakami's work perfectly corresponds to the values promoted by this publishing house. In the first place, the editorial interest turned to Manazuru, which was discussed a lot at the Frankfurt and London book fairs in 2008-2009. It is usually at these largest international forums, where new items from national literature are presented, that representatives of publishing houses obtain information on interesting foreign news. And they inspire each other, reinforcing their right choice. According to Barbara Słomka, who was later asked by Karakter publishing house for translation, the work on the English translation of Manazuru was already underway10, which in itself was an excellent recommendation for the authoress and the work itself – after all, English is today the best pass of a work to world literature. Hence, Karakter bought the copyrights to Manazuru.

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