Donald Keene: a life committed to Japanese literature

Abstract

Donald Keene has probably been the most prominent figure in the Japan Studies field in the second half of the XXth century. Originally from New York City, he studied Oriental languages in Columbia and later on in the US Army School of Languages, right before the entrance of the US in the Second World War. He was first stationed in Hawaii and from there he traveled to Japan. After a year in Cambridge (UK), he spent two years in Japan, where he made contact with the most important Japanese writers and intellectuals. At that time, he was already one of the most important Western Scholars on Japanese Studies. He also became one his most prominent translators of both his classic and contemporary literature. Because of his life between the two countries, Japan and the US, he acted as a link between the two intelectual and editorial worlds. In this article, we review his life and main Works, and argue that his life and Works contributed in a high degree to place the Japanese literature high into the universal canon, at the same level of any Western literature. He was also a reference for Japanese writers and society in general, and a liaison with the world outside Japan.