A Study of Levy Hideo’s “Chijinikudakete”:Multiplicity, Translation, and Haiku

Abstract

This paper analyzes the novel Levy Hideo wrote about 9.11, Chijinikudakete, focusing on the role of Basho’s haiku. What happens in this novel when Edward, the main character, remembers the haiku Shimajima ya Chijinikudakete natsu no umi) “All those islands! Broken into thousands of pieces, The summer sea)? What is broken into thousands of pieces? It is the sea, it is a building, and it is our words. Edward acquires multiplicity through remembering the haiku and listening to the sounds in the multilingual town he resides in, a provincial town where he has many hallucinations. This is his resistance to the hegemony of America because the United States unites to seek revenge for the terrorist attack. Edward’s weapons are words broken into thousands of pieces because they belong to daily life. But many of the words Edward hears don't belong to everyday life, for example, “avoid foreign entanglements,” “The evildoers shall be punished,” and “infidels.” He is confused by these words, but he listens to them, and he sees much life in these words and in his visions. What happens when Edward remembers Basho’s haiku? He translates English voices into Japanese, and he translates words into visions to resist unification.

Keywords

• Levy Hideo
• multiplicity
• translation
• listening
• haiku