Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | New Steps in Japanese Studies
Chapter | Engaged foreign language pedagogy: Translating Hadashi no Gen
Engaged foreign language pedagogy: Translating Hadashi no Gen
Abstract
This study is aimed to show how even translating can be seen as an ‘engaged foreign language pedagogy’, when it comes to ‘sharing memories’ and contents that are highly significant for the well-being of the social actors involved in such a process: teachers, students, publishers, readers and all humankind. The case study is Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen, Keiji Nakazawa, 1973-85; below: GEN), a translating workshop at an Italian University. The aspects explored are: 1) the critical ‘dialogues’ about histories and world-views as de-standardisation of teaching, professionalisation of teachers and critical education (Freire 1970); 2) the relevance of translated contents as motivating stimuli to reconsider social power balances and engagement; 3) the rule of social networks in aspects 1) and 2). We are finding that translating can be considered not only as a mere ‘foreign language exercise’, but as a starting point to reflect upon social responsibilities; we hope to find how this process is undertaken in teacher-learner relation.
Submitted: Jan. 12, 2017 | Accepted: Feb. 8, 2017 | Language: en
Keywords Hadashi no Gen • Japanese Language • Engaged Pedagogy • Welfare Language Pedagogy • Nuclear Power • Foreign Language Education
Copyright © 2017 Marcella Mariotti. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/6969-152-2/CFJS-5-8
