戦争と平和 sensō to heiwa War and Peace
戦争と平和 (sensō to heiwa), war and peace, is Tolstoy's title as the Japanese editions write it. The National Diet Library's earliest imprints are of 1914, 1915 and 1916; the Japanese encyclopedia names a different first translation, and who was first stands open.
Abstract
戦争と平和, war and peace, is Tolstoy's title as the Japanese editions write it, 戰爭と平和 before the war. The National Diet Library's earliest imprints are Shimamura Hōgetsu's abridgement of 1914, Baba Kochō's translation of 1915 and a complete translation of 1916; the Japanese encyclopedia names a different first translation, and who was first stands open.
Overview
The sense. Tolstoy's title in Japanese: two nouns, war and peace, joined by と.
The words. 戦争 sensō, war; 平和 heiwa, peace; と, and. The words are ordinary.
The text in English. War and Peace is the received English of Tolstoy's title.
The historical record
1869, 1914. War and Peace. Tolstoy's novel is 戦争と平和 in Japanese, in the old form 戰爭 before the war. The library's earliest imprints are three: Shimamura Hōgetsu's 1914 abridgement in a series of great Western works as stories, whose title leaf reads 戰爭と平和 トルストイ原作 [1]; Baba Kochō's 1915 translation [2]; and Shimamura and Suzuki Etsu's complete translation of 1916 [3]. The Japanese encyclopedia says the first translation was a Taishō co-translation by Nobori Shomu in six volumes, which the library's first page of imprints does not show; the two disagree on who was first, and the question stands open [4]. The two nouns do not depend on it.
Today. What a rendering must keep is the noun order of Tolstoy's title.
A reading
Tolstoy on Japanese title pages in 1914, 1915 and 1916, and a first translation the library and the encyclopedia do not agree on. The title does not depend on the answer: it was 戦争と平和, in the old form 戰爭, from the first imprint the library holds.
References
- 島村抱月 (abr.), 戦争と平和, 1914, National Diet Library Digital Collections. https://lab.ndl.go.jp/dl/api/book/948935
- 馬場孤蝶 (tr.), 戦争と平和, 1915, National Diet Library Digital Collections. https://lab.ndl.go.jp/dl/api/book/950223
- 島村抱月・鈴木悦 (tr.), 戦争と平和, 1916, National Diet Library Digital Collections. https://lab.ndl.go.jp/dl/api/book/954325
- 「戦争と平和」, Japanese Wikipedia. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/戦争と平和