Ted Goossen on translating Hiromi Kawakami’s “Third Love”

·45 min·4 clips

In the 1880s, Japanese translators struggled to find a word for 'I love you' because it didn't exist.

The episode begins with a survey announcement, then host Amy Chavez introduces translator Ted Goossen. Goossen explains his background, including learning Japanese through immersion in 1968 in a farm village and Tokyo. He details his path to translation, merging anthropology and literature. The discussion centers on Hiromi Kawakami's 'The Third Love', a novel where a modern woman time-travels to Edo and Heian Japan. Goossen analyzes how the book interrogates love, contrasting historical practices like polygamy and sequential monogamy with modern monogamy. He highlights translation challenges, such as the 1880s creation of the word 'ai' for love. The conversation explores women's agency in historical Japan versus modern constraints, citing a feminist's view on her grandmother. Goossen notes Kawakami's use of literary references like 'The Tale of Genji' and cultural elements like the Tanabata festival. He compares Kawakami's immersive style to Haruki Murakami's more distant approach. Trends in Japanese literature are discussed, including the rise of women writers and the fading focus on World War II. Goossen shares personal reading preferences, recommending Ruth Ozeki, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa's 'Takaoka's Travels', and Takeo Doi's 'The Anatomy of Dependence'. The episode concludes with an anecdote about a failed interview with Kenzaburo Oe and a promotion for the novel.

As heard by us

Marriage custom and modern pressure on women anchor this careful translation conversation.

Ted Goossen's discussion of Tomi Kawakami's The Third Love is strongest when it turns a translation conversation into a clear look at marriage, work, and women's value across rural custom and modern expectations.

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Why you'd press play

You want a translator to make Japanese marriage custom feel newly legible.

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