The Beijing Literary Circle and the Yanjing Literary Society under Japanese Occupation ：Centering on the Translations and Compilations carried out by the North China Writers’ Association

PENG, Yuxin

doi:2021.12.1.251

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 12(1); 2021 > Article

Research Material

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2021;12(1): 251-260.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2021.12.1.251

The Beijing Literary Circle and the Yanjing Literary Society under Japanese Occupation ：Centering on the Translations and Compilations carried out by the North China Writers’ Association

Yuxin PENG

Lecturer, School of Japanese Language, Literature and Culture Beijing International Studies University

日本占領下の北京文壇と燕京文学社―― 華北作家協会による翻訳と特輯を中心に

彭雨新

北京第二外国語大学日本語学院講師。植民地文学、近現代日本文学研究。

Correspondence Yuxin PENG ,Email: pengyuxinwork@163.com

Published online: 30 June 2021.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

During the Sino-Japanese War, the Yanjing Literary Society, a Japanese literary group in Beijing, overcame language and identity barriers to enter Beijing literary circles through its association with the North China Writers’ Association――a local Chinese writers’ group in Beijing. This paper explores two literary compilations containing the work of the Japanese expatriate writers of the Yanjing Literary Society in 1943, published in two Chinese periodicals run by the North China Writers’ Association, East Asian Union and North China Writers Monthly. The selections were translated and compiled by Chinese writers who were proficient in Japanese, including Mei Niang and Yuan Xi. The quality of the exchange between the Japanese writers and the new Chinese writers in the occupied areas of North China can be judged from the process of planning and compiling the two compilations. In a sense their publication broke down the barriers between Chinese and Japanese literature in the literary world of North China, introducing the works of Japanese writers into the Beijing literary circle, which absorbed them.

Keywords: Yenching Literary Society, North China Writers Association, Sino-Japanese War, Japanese Resident

キ―ワ―ド: 燕京文学社, 華北作家協会, 日中戦争, 日本居留民