Helen Craig McCullough (February 17, 1918 – April 6, 1998) was an American academic, translator and

Japanologist Japanese studies ( Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanes ...

. She is best known for her 1988 translation of ''The Tale of the Heike''.

Early life

McCullough was born in California. She graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1939 with a degree in political science. Early in World War II, she studied Japanese at the U.S. Navy’s Language School in Boulder, Colorado. In 1950, she returned to Berkeley where she earned an MA and PhD. She married fellow Berkeley graduate student William H. McCullough.; (full view
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Career

McCullough was a scholar of classical Japanese poetry and prose. She was a lecturer at Stanford, where her husband William was on the faculty (1964-1969). In 1969, she and William both joined the Department of Oriental Languages at Berkeley, her alma mater, where she began as lecturer and later received tenure as Professor of Oriental Languages in 1975.

Selected works

McCullough’s scholarly publications included 11 volumes of studies and translations. Her publications included the study ''Brocade by Night: 'Kokin Wakashu' and the Court Style in Japanese Classical Poetry'' and translations of major works of Japanese literature: *''

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a Japanese historical epic (see '' gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Taiheiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 923� ...

a Chronicle of Medieval Japan'' *'' Yoshitsune A 15th Century Japanese Chronicle'' *''

The Tale of the Heike is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike () refers to the Taira (), ''hei'' being the ''on'yo ...

'' *'' Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry'' *''

Tales of Ise is a Japanese '' uta monogatari'', or collection of ''waka'' poems and associated narratives, dating from the Heian period. The current version collects 125 sections, with each combining poems and prose, giving a total of 209 poems in most version ...

: Lyrical Episodes from 10th Century Japan'' (Ariwara no Narihira) *''Okagami, the Great Mirror: Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1027 and His Times : a Study and Translation)'' * ; (2 vols.) -- the ''Eiga Monogatari''

Honors

Her honors included several visiting professorships and a Medals of Honor (Japan), Medal of Honor from the Japanese government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccullough, Helen Craig Japanese–English translators Japanese literature academics University of California, Berkeley alumni Stanford University faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty 1918 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American translators Ise Monogatari 20th-century American women writers