Dalia Švambarytė さん
Associate Professor at Vilnius University
I hold a degree from Saint-Petersburg University, where my studies revolved around Japanese philology with a specific emphasis on Classical Japanese literature and Classical Chinese. Following my graduation in 1991, I returned to Lithuania, my home country, and embarked on a teaching career at Vilnius University.
A pivotal aspect of my role was to craft educational resources for the teaching of the Japanese language. Additionally, I initiated projects for literary translation from Japanese to Lithuanian, addressing the dearth of available translations in this domain. To facilitate this pursuit, I compiled a thorough Japanese-Lithuanian character dictionary, titled “Japonų–lietuvių kalbų hieroglifų žodynas” in 2002.
In 2002, I was honored to be granted the Hosei International Fund Foreign Scholars Fellowship. This opportunity enabled me to undertake six months of research under the guidance of the distinguished Professor Amano Kiyoko. My research delved into the transformation of aesthetic ideals from the Tang dynasty, as evident in the writings of the Heian period, particularly those authored by Murasaki Shikibu. My academic journey at Hosei University have also encompassed participation in seminars led by various professors specializing in literature, history, theater, and related fields. The culmination of my efforts was shared in the pages of the Japanese literary journal “Nihon bungaku shiyō” in 2003, and also presented at the Hosei University symposium in 2002.
The insights gleaned from my time at Hosei University formed a cornerstone for my subsequent career trajectory as a scholar, educator, and translator of both classical and contemporary Japanese texts.
Over the years, I have contributed significantly to the realm of literary translation and research, with numerous works and translations published in Lithuanian. Notable among them is my monograph stemming from my PhD thesis, an exploration of intertextual relationships between Tang poetry and Japanese literature from the Heian period, titled “Intertekstualumas klasikinėje japonų literatūroje” (2011). Additionally, I have authored a comprehensive 600-page textbook on Japanese history (“Japonijos istorija”, 2014). In my most recent endeavor, I curated an extensive anthology of Classical Japanese literature spanning 1100 pages. This anthology features translations, either in full or as excerpts, of diverse works by Japanese authors, many of which are introduced to Lithuanian readers for the first time. The anthology, titled “Klasikinės japonų literatūros antologija,” was published in 2022. I continue working in the field of literary translation and research, with a dedicated emphasis on the literature of the Heian period.
