How I Chose Among the Translations of ‘The Tale of Genji’

For readers in English, there are four principal translations of “The Tale of Genji,” Murasaki Shikibu’s 11th-century classic.

Arthur Waley’s version first introduced the work in its (near) entirety to the West in six volumes published between 1925 and 1933. A version by Kencho Suematsu preceded it, but is too abridged to be considered a full translation. Subsequent versions followed: by Edward G. Seidensticker, in 1976; Royall Tyler, in 2001; and most recently, Dennis Washburn, in 2015.

The first copy of the book that I bought was the Waley translation, because it was the one that happened to be on the shelf in the first bookstore I walked into. I was delighted to learn that Virginia Woolf had reviewed this translation for British Vogue and it drew me in immediately.

As I read more about the novel and spoke with scholars, I saw that readers had their favorites; the reasons varied. I decided to try a few of them, toggling between versions if one seemed confusing or if I wanted to see if meanings changed subtly between them.

Ultimately I came to rely predominantly on Washburn’s translation. I found it the most readable and the best for understanding the book at a plot level. But I also read portions of the Tyler translation because it is said to hew more closely to the grammar of the original text, which does not use proper nouns for characters. I liked the experience of sinking into the vernacular but at times, it was difficult to know who was speaking or acting, and I found myself constantly referring back to a character key at the beginning of each chapter.

Washburn, a professor of comparative literature at Dartmouth, said that, as with other classical works like “The Odyssey,” by Homer, he believed the more translations of “The Tale of Genji,” the better. “The range of interpretations goes on and on,” he said.

In doing his own translation, he also wanted to demystify Murasaki’s work, he added.

“There is a romanticism about her style, and a view of it as elusive and difficult, in the sense that it’s not explicit,” he said. “And as I worked through it I came to a different conclusion. I think it’s a more robust style and the language itself is not as ambiguous as people would think.”

In my approach to the novel, I am also indebted to the work of Melissa McCormick, who wrote the book that accompanied a 2019 exhibition of paintings inspired by “The Tale of Genji” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

A few other volumes that I found useful for understanding “The Tale of Genji,” its reception and its influence over the past centuries include:

• “The Tale of Genji, A Reader’s Guide,” by William J. Puette

• “Envisioning the Tale of Genji: Media, Gender and Cultural Production,” edited by Haruo Shirane

• “Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji: Philosophical Perspectives,” edited by James McMullen