Posted by Hans Olof Johansson on January 05, 1999 at 05:06:23:
In Reply to: Re:Sanjûrokkasen posted by John Fiorillo on January 04, 1999 at 21:56:09:
John,
I have to admit, of course, that the evidence I have been able to produce, is circumstantial at the most, and I wouldn't wish to push my theory too far. I also have to say, though, that the idea really wasn't mine from the beginning. When searching the web for prints from this series in August, I found one at a dealer's site, where sanjûrokkasen was in fact translated as "36 ghosts". Maybe it was just a slip of the keyboard, but the fact that (at least) three of the four prints, that Theo had located so far, depicted ghosts made me wonder if this really was a mere coincidence.
Mitate sanjûrokkasen no uchi may be a bad example, but I would like to broaden this discussion to encompass the whole problem of understanding and translating the ambiguous titles of many ukiyo-e series and individual prints. As I have already indicated, I am very often at a complete loss as how to interpret these titles. Admittedly, it is also a stimulating challenge, but in the end it is very often only frustrating.
For instance, how would you interpret the title of a series by Sencho, that Nils U Bosshard brought to my attention some three months ago on this chat page?
I feel rather certain that the title should be pronounced Keisei senryû awase. This would mean something like Comparisons of courtesans to... what? Looking at a print from the series, it becomes apparent that DJM's suggestion "springs and rivers" is not very satisfactory. Clearly, senryû in this context are "comical poems". But why did the artist use these two characters for senryû? Was this an alternative writing that was common around 1830? Was it just a slip of the brush? Or, did Sencho try to convey something else?
The ball is in your court, John.
Regards,
Hans Olof