Translating Diversity from Ralph Ellison to Kenzaburō Ōe

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, it endeavors to understand the vagaries of the notion of diversity as it travels from one national and political context to the next; and second, it shows how two major fiction writers and essayists have used that notion in their work and to what ends. The first part focuses on the work of Ralph Ellison, who put diversity at the heart of his reflection on what a truly democratic American society should be. Kenzaburō Ōe initially borrowed the notion of diversity from Ellison himself, but as the second part demonstrates, Ōe did not merely transpose Ellison’s notion of diversity onto his work. Instead, Ōe translated it, adapting it to his political and cultural environment, and expanding its meaning to be consonant with the substance of his literary universe. In Ōe’s work, the notion of diversity changes according to both Ōe’s evolution as a person and a writer and the development of Japanese society and politics since the postwar era. Ultimately, Ellison’s and Ōe’s respective notions of diversity are very dissimilar, and yet both authors concur on the key role diversity should play in shaping a more democratic world.