Royall Tyler (academic)

Infobox Writer
name = Royall Tyler


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birthdate = 1936
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occupation = Scholar, translator
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subject = Japanese literature
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Royall Tyler (born 1936). He is a descendant of the American playwright Royall Tyler (1757-1826). He was born in London, England, and grew up in Massachusetts, England, Washington D.C., and Paris, France. Between 1990 and 2000 he taught at the Australian National University. He was Reader at that university and is now a visiting Fellow in ANU's Faculty of Asian Studies. He has translated an anthology of Japanese folklore, a collection of Noh plays, and, recently "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu.

He has a B.A. in Far Eastern Languages (1957) from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University, and has also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Oslo, Norway. At Columbia he was supervised by the doyen of Japanese studies in the West, Professor Donald Keene, who considered Tyler to be the best of all the students he has taught in his long career.

He lives in the peace of the New South Wales countryside, 70 miles outside Canberra in Australia.

In 2008 His Majesty the Emperor of Japan conferred The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon on Dr Tyler, acknowledging his exceptional contribution in introducing non Japanese audiences to the Noh theatre through his highly acclaimed translations and publications of numerous Noh plays, culminating in over forty years of research and deep understanding of classical Japanese literature and culture.

In 2001 Dr Tyler completed translating the entire "Tale of Genji", a task that took approximately eight years.It is only the third ever attempt to translate the entire "Tale" into English. The result is not only a faithful rendering of the original but an outstanding example of modern English, replete with detailed commentary and illustrations that facilitate an understanding of the story. Dr Tyler's translation has made "Tale of Genji" accessible to a wider audience.

Honors

* Order of the Rising Sun, 2008. [Consulate General of Japan, Boston: [http://www.boston.us.emb-japan.go.jp/eng/pharr.htm Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (3rd class).] ]
* Japan Foundation: Japan Foundation Award, 2007. [ [http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/about/award/index.html Japan Foundation Award, 2007] ]
* Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Translation Award, 2001. [ [http://www.donaldkeenecenter.org/programs/2002_translation.html Donald Keene Center, Columbia] ]

elected works

* Tyler, Royall. (1990). "The Miracles of the Kasuga Deity: Records of Civilization." New York: Columbia University Press. 10-ISBN 0-231-06958-8; 13-ISBN 978-0-231-06958-8 (cloth)
* _____________. (2002). "The Hidden Tale of Genji" (Occasional papers in Japanese studies). Cambridge: Harvard University, Edwin O. Reischauer Institute Of Japanese Studies.

Translations

An anonymous reader of "The Tale of Genji" (1202) had something to say about translations -- and perhaps, at best, that 13th century critic suggested something worth considering about what Royall Tyler was doing in each of his several translations from Japanese to English::"If you compose a poem, either in our language, or in Chinese, your name will forever be associated with it, and whoever reads you will enjoy the feeling of being in your immediate presence, right there beside him - which is indeed the most moving experience one can ever imagine." [Kirkup, James. [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/renatildecopy-sieffert-549629.html "René Sieffert, Japanologist who translated the 'Ten Thousand Leaves' of the "Man'yōshū"] "Independent" (London). April 17, 2004.]

Individual authors
* Kawaguchi, Matsutaro. (2007). "Mistress Oriku: Stories from a Tokyo Teahouse" (tr. Royall Tyler). Tokyo: Tuttle. 10-ISBN 0-804-83842-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-804-83842-9 (cloth) -- 10-ISBN 4-805-30886-9; 13-ISBN 978-4-805-30886-8 (paper)
* Murasaki Shikibu. (2001) "The Tale of Genji." (tr. Royall Tyler). New York: Viking Press. 10-ISBN 0-670-03020-1; 13-ISBN 978-0-670-03020-0 (cloth)
** _____________. (2002). [http://books.google.com/books?id=AIUvc9FnZ5AC&dq=royall+tyler+genji&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "The Tale of Genji."] (tr. Royall Tyler). New York: Penguin Classics. 10-ISBN 0-142-43714-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-142-43714-8 (paper)]
* Suzuki, Sadami. (2006). "The Concept of "Literature" in Japan" (tr. Royall Tyler). Tokyo: International Research Center Japanese Studies. 10-ISBN 4-901-55831-5 (cloth)
* Suzuki, Shosan. (1977). "Selected Writings of Suzuki Shosan" (tr. Royall Tyler). Ithica: Cornell University Press.
* Yasuoka, Shotaro. (2008). "The Glass Slipper and Other Stories" (tr. Royall Tyler). Tokyo: Dalkey Archive Press. 10-ISBN 1-564-78504-1; 13-ISBN 978-1-564-78504-6 (cloth)

Anthologies
* Various. (1987). "Japanese Tales" {tr. Royall Tyler). New York: Pantheon Books. 10-ISBN 0-394-52190-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-394-52190-9 (cloth) -- 10-ISBN 0-394-75656--8; 13-ISBN 978-0-394-75656-1 (paper)
** (2002). [http://books.google.com/books?id=uckMAAAACAAJ&dq=japanese+tales "Japanese Tales."] New York: Knopf Publishing. 10-ISBN 0-375-71451-0
* Various. (1992). "Japanese No Dramas" (tr. Royall Tyler). London: Penguin Classics. 10-ISBN 0-140-44539-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-140-44539-8 (paper)
* Various. (1978). "Granny Mountains: A Second Cycle of No Plays" (tr. Royall Tyler). Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 10-ISBN 0-939-65718-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-939-65718-6 (paper)
* Various. (1978). "Pining Wind: A Cycle of No Plays (tr. Royall Tyler). Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 10-ISBN 0-939-65717-1; 13-ISBN 978-0-939-65717-9 (paper)
* Various. (1970). "Twenty Plays of the No Theatre" (tr. Donald Keene and Royall Tyler). New York: Columbia University Press. 10-ISBN 0-231-03454-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-231-03454-8 (cloth) -- 10-ISBN 0-231-03455-5; 13-ISBN 978-0-231-03455-5 (paper)

Notes

References

* Nomura, Janice. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E5D7153AF931A35751C1A9679C8B63&st=cse&sq=royall+tyler+genji&scp=1 "Courtly Lust,"] "New York Times." December 2, 2001.

* Sato, Hiroaki. [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fb20020310a2.html "'Genji': the long and the shorter of it,"] "Japan Times." March 10, 2002.
* Ury, Marion. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDD173BF93BA15755C0A961948260&st=cse&sq=royall+tyler+genji&scp=3 "Demons on the Garden,] "New York Times." June 28, 1987.
* Wood, Michael. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,216348,00.html "A Distant Mirror?"] "Time." March 11, 2002.

External links

* Monash University: [http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/tylerlecture.html "Translating the Tale of Genji",] text of lecture text by Prof. Tyler (2003).
* Australian Broadcasting Commission: [http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/tylerinterview.html "Interview,"] Ramona Koval with Prof. Tyler (2003).
* New York Times: sample text -- [http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/books/chapters/02-1st-shiki.html?ex=1208059200&en=704f29c13e036a19&ei=5070 1st chapter] of "Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu