Howard Hibbett on Tanizaki Jun'ichirō - Danielle

I have never read any Tanizaki before, but the article painted an interesting image of him in my head. The article said that Tanizaki "remarked that he didn't really like Genji at all, but he meant the novel's hero, the character Genji. He liked the women in Genji, and he translated with them in mind." Anyone who has read the tale of Genji should certainly be able to understand why Tanizaki like the novel but not the character. In LJ250, as we discuss the Genji, most people have quite a bit to say about his promiscuous and manipulative behavior; however, as Tanizaki said, the real stars of the Genji are the women, not Genji himself. Tanizaki gained a point in my book for focusing his translation around the women in the Genji. 

Aside from his Tanizaki commentary, Hibbett also makes quite a few notable claims. One thing he says, almost as a throw away comment, that stood out to me was, "I always mention the author when I talk about such a work. I don't know why I am so sensitive on that point." This class has made it especially clear how hard translators work to produce a translation that lives up to the original work.  Hibbett claims not to understand his sensitivity but I find it perfectly understandable. Especially after seeing those book in class the other day with absolutely zero attribution to the translator, I find that it would be an extreme disservice to leave the translator out of the picture seeing as how it was their creativity and hard work that brought the story to life in a whole different language. Without the translator we wouldn't be reading the translated book with an author to credit anyway. 

I also wanted to bring up Hibbett's belief that "as a general rule, you should translate into your native language." I am curious to know what other people think about this belief. From my limited experience I of course think it is easier to translate in to one's native language, but I also feel that the reverse could be true for someone emerged enough in their non-native language. Is this a common opinion? Does anyone else believe it best to translate this way. Further, how do people feel about translating between two languages neither of which are your native language?