In Part 2 of our discussion on Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji, editor Dennis Washburn returns to discuss the importance of the colors of the Norton Library edition, the ways the text spoke to him during his translation process, and the self-evaluation that occurs through reading something unfamiliar. (P. S. Hi, Shonda Rhimes! Please, please, please work your magic with an adaptation ofThe Tale of Genji!) 

Dennis Washburn is the Burlington northern Foundation professor of Asian studies at Dartmouth College. He holds a Ph.D. in Japanese Language and Literature from Yale University and has authored and edited studies on a range of literary and cultural topics. These include: The Dilemma of the Modern in Japanese Fiction; Translating Mount Fuji: Modern Japanese Fiction and the Ethics of Identity; and The Affect of Difference: Representations of Race in East Asian Empire. In addition to his scholarly publications, he has translated several works of Japanese fiction, including Yokomitsu Riichi’s Shanghai, Tsushima Tsushima Tuko’s Laughing Wolf, and Mizukami Tsutomu’s The Temple of the Wild Geese, for which he was awarded the US-Japan Friendship Commission Prize. In 2004 he was awarded the Japan Foreign Minister’s citation for promoting cross-cultural understanding.

To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Tale of Genji, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393427912.

Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.

Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social.