The article provided helpful insight into the unique difficulties of translating Japanese texts. On the structural end, she discussed the issues of going from Japanese sentences which end in verbs to English sentences that don't. I definitely find that frustrating when I read Japanese now, so it was nice to hear that it's still a bit of a puzzle even for a professional translator! It was interesting to realize how many things that are left implied in Japanese sentences, and how if we translate without adding them in the sentences no longer make sense. I liked how she specified that conveying the author's original meaning is also part of the translator's job, even when that means changing some of the words.
I thought the way she handled juku was very interesting, although I can see how it could be controversial. I liked that the description was integrated into the story, and I don't think it would stick out from the rest of the text for most readers. Plus, I don't think putting juku in italics would be sufficient here, since it's such a big part of the story's setting. But, I can imagine that writing descriptions that blend well with the rest of the text is a challenge, and I can see how some translators might overstep in that process.
Finally, I loved how she translated the joke about kimi. Using excessively formal language like "presume" was a great way to convey the tone of the original joke, without having to stray too far from the original text.
No comments:
Post a Comment