The reader should know that when I write to be translated, the writing must endure certain constraints. For example, I might refer, in an article aimed at Americans, to the "mid-20th century Jewish American novel". American readers will know that I'm referring to the work of Mailer, Heller, Roth, Bellow, et al. They may also possess a passing familiarity with each of these writers' styles and ideas. The Japanese readership would scarcely know what to make of such a designation. Neither would they know to whom I was referring, nor about any Jewish assimilationist ethic or mode of thought that might inform these writers' works.