Posted by John Fiorillo on January 07, 1999 at 21:27:17:
In Reply to: Re:Senchô title translation posted by Hans Olof Johansson on January 07, 1999 at 15:00:43:
Actually, I think you're being too restrictive in how you suggest we read titles (just as I objected to your and Dan’s word order argument). I think that words like "awase" suggest all sorts of comparisons – it is such a commonly found term, a kind of "pivot word" for titles, that it practically begs the viewer to identify the associations suggested by the title. You seem to be saying that we must find one word in the title to compare with another, as you do with your argument claiming my choice of meaning would require "A Comparison of Courtesans TO Sources of Fashion" (upper case & bold type mine for the word "to"), which is definitely not what I meant. Instead, what I’m trying to say (and perhaps not doing too great a job of it) is that terms like "awase" imply all sorts of connections intentionally. That is why my suggested reading was "Courtesans Compared AS the Sources of Fashion." In other words, the "awase" of the title does not limit the meaning to literal comparisons of one word in the title to another, but may also suggest making comparisons within the general context. I have seen this interpretation many times by experts translating print titles. So what I’m saying is Senchô has depicted various courtesans in a series, each of whom may be compared to the other courtesans in the series. Thus each courtesan, each a "source of fashion," is to be compared to the other courtesans in the series. This seems most logical and truly expected of the Edokko viewer, who would realize that the elaborate costumes (a.k.a. "fashion") would be different in each print from the series and could be compared, print to print.
Thus the title suggests the following: "Here we have a series of courtesans, each dressed in a different example of the latest fashion, which you should compare to one another for your enjoyment. In addition, if you use different characters that sound the same, you can enjoy the pun that senryû also means a comic poem, which is cleverly enhanced by a picture of an illustrated verse book drawn behind the courtesan."
I’m still sticking with my interpretation.
I’m amused that we three ukiyo-e enthusiasts, none of us experts in Japanese language, have journeyed merrily on while debating the fine points of interpreting print titles! Just another proof, I would claim, of the vitality of the Japanese print.
John