E. Dale Saunders (1919–1995) was an American scholar of Romance languages and literature, Japanese Buddhism, classical Japanese literature, and East Asian civilization.

Life

Saunders obtained an A.B. degree from

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

in 1941 and an M.A. in Romance Philology from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1942. He continued his studies in Japanese after joining the U.S. Naval Reserve, later earning an M.A. from Harvard in 1948 and an Doctorat de l'

Université de Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revolution. ...

in 1953. Saunders was a teaching fellow in Romance Languages and Literature at Harvard in 1942 and again in 1945–48. After working as instructor in French at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

(1946), Chargé de mission, titre étranger in the

Musée Guimet The Guimet Museum (full name in french: Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet; MNAAG; ) is an art museum located at 6, place d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Literally translated into English, its full name is the Nation ...

in Paris (1950), Lecturer at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

(1951–52), and Assistant Professor at the

International Christian University is a non-denominational private university located in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan, commonly known as ICU. With the efforts of Prince Takamatsu, General Douglas MacArthur, and BOJ President Hisato Ichimada, ICU was established in 1949 as the first ...

in Tokyo (1954–55), Saunders joined the faculty of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

in 1955 as assistant professor. He became associate professor in 1963 and full professor in 1968.

Selected works

Translations

In addition to his contributions to scholarship, Saunders is known for his English translations of modern Japanese literature by authors such as Abe Kōbō ('' Inter Ice Age 4'', ''

The Woman in the Dunes is a novel by the Japanese writer Kōbō Abe, published in 1962. It won the 1962 Yomiuri Prize for literature, and an English translation and a film adaptation appeared in 1964. The novel is intended as a commentary on the claustrophobic and ...

'', '' The Face of Another'', ''

The Ruined Map ''The Ruined Map'' (燃え尽きた地図 ''Moetsukita chizu'', 1967) is a novel by Japanese writer Kōbō Abe, translated into English by E. Dale Saunders for Knopf in 1969. Plot ''The Ruined Map'' is the story of an unnamed detective, hired ...

'', and ''The Box Man'') and Mishima Yukio (''The Temple of Dawn'' in conjunction with Cecilia Segawa Seigle). Saunders has also translated several books into French, including the three-volume ''A History of Japanese Literature: From the Manyoshu to Modern Times'' by Shūichi Katō and ''Le jeu de l'indulgence: Etude de psychologie fondée sur le concept japonais d'amae'' by

Doi Takeo was a Japanese academic, psychoanalyst and author. Early life Doi was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1920. He was a graduate of the University of Tokyo. Career Doi was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neuropsychiatry at the University of Tokyo ...

Other works

* ''Mudra: A Study of Symbolic Gestures in Japanese Buddhist Sculpture'' * ''Mythologies of the Ancient World'' * ''Japanese Buddhism''

External links

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, E. Dale 1919 births 1995 deaths Case Western Reserve University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Paris alumni Boston University faculty University of Paris faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty Japanese–English translators Japanese literature academics 20th-century translators