Yoko Tawada, Translated by Kenji Hayakawa
Stereo Editions 2020
Latona is the fourth chapter of the project Opium for Ovid, published by Stereoeditions in a collection of 22 separate books.
*
Latona est le quatriÚme chapitre du projet Opium for Ovid, publié par Stereoeditions en une collection de 22 livres séparés.
“Yoko Tawada wrote Opium fĂŒr Ovid: Ein Kopfkissenbuch von 22 Frauen in 2000. She then released the Japanese version of the text, ć€èș«ăźăăăźăȘăăŠă , in the fall of 2001.
The German title says: âOpium for Ovid: A Pillow Book by 22 Women.â The Japanese title says: âOpium for Metamorphoses.â Our English title says simply: Opium for Ovid. All three can be abbreviated in the same way in one word: Opium.
The only way to experience a drug is to take it. In terms of the price per gram, our work is possibly the cheapest drug on the market. Stocks are limited. We honour our customersâ privacy and will take orders anonymously via our online donation system. We apologize in advance that, due to the recent crash, we no longer accept Bitcoin.
In Opium, Tawada demonstrates (in the sense of simultaneously âshowingâ and âprovingâ) a certain hitherto overlooked point about literary language. Our work demonstrates the same point about books. Either way, we promise to release you from the word âhappinessâ and to help you arrive at the word âopium.â
As far as I know, no literary (or non-literary) scholar has yet given the correct answer to the question: âwho (or what) is the narrator of Opium?â We find that a relief. If you ever figure out the answer to this riddle, please keep it secret, so that others may also experience the pleasure of discovering it for themselves.”
Kenji Hayakawa