“Eight Ways to Say You” Reflections - Alex DeRosa

    Translation is undeniably an art form. I think after reading the last few passages we’ve been assigned, I’ve fully grasped just how difficult it is to not only translate, but to maintain the flow and voice of the original author. I was really inspired by Hirano’s work in this piece, specifically where she directly compares the direct vs edited translations. The difference is remarkable—she navigates through cultural nuance with ease, preserving the meaning while making it approachable to a foreign audience.

    Specifically, the example involving “kimi” stuck out to me. The tonal differences between all of the different “you”s in Japanese are extremely nuanced compared to English. I really liked how Hirano chose to adapt that into English using a loftier, more arrogant tone to convey the meaning of the original passage. It was a creative approach. 

    This piece also made me think of a variety of other translated/localized media, and how the teams behind them chose to market it to foreign audiences. For instance, I recalled an episode of Pokémon where they changed onigiri to jelly doughnuts to make it “easier for American kids to understand.” This kind of localization seems like an unecessary and silly change in comparison to Hirano’s work. It draws into question—how far is too far in terms of catering to American audiences? At what point do you lose the key cultural elements of the original media? 

 

Alex