RECONSIDERATION OF ‘KOSEI’ IN THE JAPANESE VERSIONS OF MIES VAN DER ROHE'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS AS DIRECTOR OF ARCHITECTURE AT ARMOUR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

In almost all the Japanese versions of Mies's inaugural address at AIT the German word, ‘Persönlichkeit,’ was translated as the Japanese word, ‘Kosei,’ and in Japan they have circulated Mies's respect for ‘Kosei’ in architectural education. The meaning of ‘Kosei’ contradicts not only the meaning of the other sentences, but also his other discourses. Investigation into the process of translation from German through English to Japanese shows that there were some subtle differences between them. They derived the unsuitable equivalent, ‘Kosei,’ distinctive character of a person for ‘Persönlichkeit.’ The more appropriate equivalent is ‘Jinkaku,’ the condition of being a person.