Pseudotranslation as an Expression of Creative Freedom : Writing and Authorship in Itō Seikō’s The Novel That Does Not Exist

This article aims to explore the possible functions of pseudotranslation in Japanese literature based on the short story called Atashi from Itō Seikō’s Sonzai shinai shōsetsu (The Novel That Does Not Exist, 2013). Even though the notion of pseudotranslation has been thoroughly researched in the context of European literature, it still remains relatively unexplored within Japanese literature. While in some cases it allows the writers to hide their true identity for different reasons, I argue that in The Nove l That Does Not Exist it is primarily employed as a way to reinterpret Roland Barthes’ concept of the death of the author. Although the stories within the novel are unrelated on the plot level, they are connected by the common premise that they pretend to be translations of “non-existent” authors from all around the world. Using the concept of pseudo (or fictitious) translation and Barthes’ idea of the death of the author, I will examine how the intertextuality of the story allows to see it as an allegory t hat is not necessarily bound to a specific cultural context but can be expanded on further. In the beginning of the article, the main theoretical framework as well as the connection between pseudotranslation and the death of the author will be introduced. In the second part I will move on to the case study and divide it into two sections. The first one will be focused on analyzing the way the story connects to the idea of the author being “dead”. To do so, the role of writing and authorship both in and outside Atashi as well as the editor’s note that follows the story will be examined. Based on this, I will then proceed to the second section and show how intertextuality of the text is emphasized through the decision to choose pseudotranslation as a form. After that, some final remarks on reinterpretation of the death of the author within the story will be made.