National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics

Purpose of the Symposium

Texts in classical languages such as Literary Sinitic and Latin, which circulated widely across different regions, have been read and interpreted in various ways through the vernacular languages of those regions. In Japan, there is a long tradition of research on kunten and kundoku, practices for reading Literary Sinitic through Japanese. Since the 1960s, research has also been conducted on Literary Sinitic reading practices and glossed texts in other languages of the Sinographic Cosmopolis, including Sinitic languages, Korean, and Vietnamese. More recently, comparable practices in Europe have attracted scholarly attention, and the question of how texts in classical languages have been read through the vernacular in different regions has increasingly come to be recognized as a field of inquiry that transcends individual regions and languages. International research meetings have been held on this subject, and international research networks such as the Network for the Study of Glossing have also been established.
In Japan as well, international scholarly activities have developed among researchers from within and beyond the Sinographic Cosmopolis, including academic exchanges with scholars of Korean kugyol. Much of this scholarly exchange, however, has focused on comparisons between Japanese and a single other language. Approaches that examine the reading of texts in classical languages across multiple regions and languages remain relatively limited.
This symposium brings together scholars interested in reading texts in classical languages through the vernacular to compare how texts in widely circulated classical languages, such as Literary Sinitic and Latin, have been read through the vernacular languages of different regions. By examining similarities and differences among these reading practices, the symposium seeks to explore shared and potentially universal features across regions and languages. It also aims to bring together research traditions from different regions, including Japanese research on kunten and kundoku, and to provide a starting point for broader international collaborative research.

Program

• For more information, see our Japanese website.