Helen Craig McCullough (February 17, 1918 – April 6, 1998) was an American academic, translator and Japanologist. She is best known for her 1988 translation of ''The Tale of the Heike''.

Early life

McCullough was born in California. She graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

in 1939 with a degree in political science. Early in World War II, she studied Japanese at the U.S. Navy’s Language School in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...

. In 1950, she returned to Berkeley where she earned an MA and PhD. She married fellow Berkeley graduate student William H. McCullough.; (full view
Calisphere site
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Career

McCullough was a scholar of

classical Japanese The classical Japanese language ( ''bungo'', "literary language"), also called "old writing" ( ''kobun''), sometimes simply called "Medieval Japanese" is the literary form of the Japanese language that was the standard until the early Shōwa p ...

poetry and prose. She was a lecturer at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

, where her husband William was on the faculty (1964-1969). In 1969, she and William both joined the Department of Oriental Languages at Berkeley, her alma mater, where she began as lecturer and later received tenure as Professor of Oriental Languages in 1975.

Selected works

McCullough’s scholarly publications included 11 volumes of studies and translations. Her publications included the study ''Brocade by Night: 'Kokin Wakashu' and the Court Style in Japanese Classical Poetry'' and translations of major works of Japanese literature: *''

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a Japanese historical epic (see ''gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Taiheiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 923� ...

a Chronicle of Medieval Japan'' *'' Yoshitsune A 15th Century Japanese Chronicle'' *''

The Tale of the Heike is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike () refers to the Taira (), ''hei'' being the ''on'yo ...

'' *'' Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry'' *''

Tales of Ise is a Japanese ''uta monogatari'', or collection of ''waka'' poems and associated narratives, dating from the Heian period. The current version collects 125 sections, with each combining poems and prose, giving a total of 209 poems in most versions ...

: Lyrical Episodes from 10th Century Japan'' (

Ariwara no Narihira was a Japanese courtier and '' waka'' poet of the early Heian period. He was named one of both the Six Poetic Geniuses and the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and one of his poems was included in the ''Ogura Hyakunin Isshu'' collection. He i ...

) *''Okagami, the Great Mirror:

Fujiwara Michinaga was a Japanese statesman. The Fujiwara clan's control over Japan and its politics reached its zenith under his leadership. Early life Michinaga was born in Kyōto, the son of Kaneiye. Kaneiye had become Regent in 986, holding the position unt ...

(966-1027 and His Times : a Study and Translation)'' * ; (2 vols.) -- the '' Eiga Monogatari''

Honors

Her honors included several visiting professorships and a

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

from the Japanese government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccullough, Helen Craig Japanese–English translators Japanese literature academics University of California, Berkeley alumni Stanford University faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty 1918 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American translators Ise Monogatari 20th-century American women writers