H. Hibbett Response (Camille)

I found the different strategies in translating Manji to be really interesting, I, like Hibbett, was puzzled by the French choice of Svastika. I'm not sure that any reader, especially a European one, would take that title to refer to anything but the symbol used in WWII. Additionally, I was a little confused by the choice of Quicksand over other ideas like Whirlpool or Maelstrom. Hibbett does mention a connection between quicksand and a metaphor in the text, but the impression I got from that section was that the metaphor only appeared in the translation, not the original text. I suppose the title works then as a justification for said metaphor, but my instinct would be to scrap the added metaphor and use a title more similar to the original meaning of the Manji, rather than make so many modifications. 

Hibbett's idea of fidelity to the source language, rather than directly to the text, was also interesting to me. It raises the question of what it means for a text to seem Japanese (or French, German, etc). It ties into another idea he mentioned among some critics, that a translated text should sound strange, as it is meant to be a foreign work of literature. There's a balance to be found, I guess, between adapting the translation so that it reads well to a foreign reader, and maintaining the original character of the text.