René Sieffert (4 August 1923 – 13 February 2004) was a French

japanologist , sometimes known as 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 Japanese language, History of Japan, history, ...

and professor at the

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (; ), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French Grand Etablissement with a specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europ ...

(INALCO). René Sieffert translated many works and helped bring

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...

to French-speaking readers. Also, in 1971, when he was president of INALCO, he created with his wife Simone, the university press (POF).

Bibliography

Works

Main publications: * ''La Littérature japonaise'' * ''Les Religions du Japon'', * ''Treize siècles de lettres japonaises'' (2 vol.), * ''Le Japon et la France : images d'une découverte'', * ''Théâtre classique'',

Translations

Some major translations: * ''Le Dit de Hôgen (

Hōgen Monogatari In Japanese, Hōgen may refer to several words. Among them: * Hōgen (era) (保元, 1156–1159), an era in Japan * Hōgen rebellion, a short civil war in 1156 * dialect (方言) — for example: "eigo no hōgen" (English dialect) See also * ...

, Le Dit de Heiji'' ( Heiji Monogatari), (Publications orientalistes de France, series "". *1997: , Publications orientalistes de France, series "Le Cycle Épique des Taïra et des Minamoto" - *1988: de dame

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, Japanese poetry#Age of Nyobo or court ladies, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court in Kyoto, Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of ''The Tale of Genji'', widely considered t ...

- * ''Les Belles Endormies'' (''

The House of the Sleeping Beauties ''House of the Sleeping Beauties'' is a 1961 novella by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. It is a story about a lonely man, Old Eguchi, who continuously visits the House of the Sleeping Beauties in hope of something more. Plot The titular ...

'') by

Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and ...

*1977: ''Éloge de l'ombre'' (''

In Praise of Shadows is a 1933 essay on Japanese aesthetics by the Japanese author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. It was translated into English, in 1977, by the academic students of Japanese literature Thomas J. Harper and Edward Seidensticker. A new translation by Gregory ...

'') by Tanizaki Jun'ichirô, Publications orientalistes de France *1986: ''Contes d'Uji'', Publications orientalistes de France, series "Les œuvres capitales de la littérature japonaise" *1979: , followed by , Publications orientalistes de France *1993: , Publications orientalistes de France, series "Tama" *1997: ''Le Journal de Tosa'' (土佐日記, ''

Tosa nikki The is a poetic diary written anonymously by the tenth-century Japanese poet Ki no Tsurayuki. The text details a 55-day journey in 935 returning to Kyoto from Tosa province, where Tsurayuki had been the provincial governor. The prose account o ...

''), Publications orientalistes de France, series "Tama" *1960: ''La tradition secrète du'' nô, followed by ''Une journée de'' nô, éd. Gallimard-Unesco, series "Connaissance de l'Orient" *1997: ''Contes de pluie et de lune'' (''

Ugetsu Monogatari is a collection of nine supernatural tales first published in 1776. It is the best known work of Japanese author Ueda Akinari. Largely adapted from traditional Japanese and Chinese ghost stories, the collection is among the most important w ...

'') by Ueda Akinari, Gallimard-Unesco, series "Connaissance de l'Orient".

External links

"René Sieffert, Japanologist who translated the 'Ten Thousand Leaves' of the ''Man'yōshū''"
by Kirkup, James, ''Independent'' (London). April 17, 2004.
List of translations

Notice
on E. Universalis {{DEFAULTSORT:Sieffert, Rene French Japanologists Translators from Japanese University of Strasbourg alumni Academic staff of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences 1923 births People from Moselle (department) 2004 deaths 20th-century French translators