「このＸのＹ」– What does この refer to?

Question

I was reading about the upcoming movie この[世界]{せかい}の[片隅]{かたすみ}に - and I thought about what the title might mean. I quickly arrived at "In a corner of this world" (which some sources also seem to list it as). But... the official localization is "In this corner of the world". That's when I realized, there might be two possible ways the phrase works:

• ［この世界］の片隅に – "In a corner of this world", or...

• この［世界の片隅］に – "In this corner of the world"

So the questions I'd like answered are:

• Which one is correct?
• Does この refer to 世界 or the entire phrase "世界の片隅"?
• Would saying something like "世界のこの片隅に" be correct (despite sounding very wrong)?
• And whichever of the translations is correct, how would you say the other one?

It might get even more complicated with longer の chains... So I'd also like to know:

• In general, is there a way to specify which noun in a の series a demonstrative (この, その, あの...) refers to? Or do you have to rephrase the sentence somehow?

Answer 1

Both interpretations are technically possible, but when I read this firstly, I thought この only modifies 世界 (i.e., "this world"). That is, if I were to translate the Japanese title literally, I would choose "In a corner of this world." (Note that I don't know much about the movie. And I wouldn't say "In this corner of the world" is a bad translation, either. There may be a reason.)

片隅 is a word that vaguely refers to an inconspicuous place. Specifying it as "この/あの片隅" or counting 片隅 (like 2つの片隅) is not common. On the other hand, この世界 is a phrase I have heard hundreds of times. For the same reason, 世界のこの片隅に sounds a bit weird to me, although it is perfectly grammatical and possible as an eye-catching movie title. Something like 世界のこの場所で sounds more "normal" to me.

In general, is there a way to specify which noun in a の series a demonstrative (この, その, あの...) refers to?

I doubt it. I think we are choosing "the most sane interpretation" almost unconsciously, case by case. When I hear この熊のぬいぐるみ, I would definitely interpret it as "this stuffed bear" but not "a stuffed bear modeled on this bear."

Answer 2

I feel that "In a corner of this world" should be an appropriate tanslation of "この世界の片隅に."

The followings are commonn use of "この"
・この世界に愛があれば、人類は救われる。=世界に愛があれば、人類は救われる。
・この世界に核がある限り、いつか人類は滅亡{めつぼう}する。=世界に核がある限り、いつか人類は滅亡する。
「世界」ではなく、「この世界」と言う時、「私たちが住んでいるこの世界」というニュアンスが込められている。"This world" has the nuance of "this world we live in daily"

「この世界」is a phrase.

ちなみに「あの世界」と言えば、「死後の世界」を意味します。
「あの世界」is also one phrase and means ""the afterworld."

The above explanation refers the one phrase of "この世界" and "あの世界"

The followings are the examples of "この", "あの" and "その" in general.

「この本」"This book" : The speaker and listener talk about the book, and the book is in front of them.
「あの本」"That book" : The speaker and listener talk about the book, and the book is not in front of them. They saw the book before.
「その本」"That book or The book" : The speaker and listener talk about the book, and the book is not in front of them. They have not seen the book before.