Reading the article "Jumping into the pond", the topic of creativity in translating comes up yet again. I feel like in this article, the creativeness of translating words for emotions such as "waku waku" and "doki doki" felt much more open-ended yet technical. It required having to refer to the specific context of the related Mozart song for the words, and also up to the personal interpretation of the translator. I also think that it is a great feat to be able to include play on words and jokes that work in the English translation that's similar to the Japanese original, because it looks really daunting to have to translate a joke and to force it into the translation might not be the best of ideas. I liked her explanation of her choice of words for the translation of The Hunter where the high school girls were at the telephone club. The thought process of going from "thumb" to "thumbs up" and "thumb through your homework" was really interesting to me as it really cemented just how much care is put into translating each phrase and sentence.
Reading the interview, I really enjoyed the part where the rough drafts and the different translations given by JWC, the edited version, and the collaborative wording. The sentences put in to further give explanations to the Western audience as to allow them to understand the situation better in such a subtle and smooth way (the sentence with "Japanese prudishness") was also something I admire as having to insert explanations without being overbearing or the translation sounding clunky can be a very difficult task to overcome. Reading both the article and interview, it is apparent how passionate and experienced Juliet Carpenter is at translating, and at a level that I would aspire to reach someday.
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