Juliet Carpenter

 It’s interesting that despite it being based off of the same sound, there isn’t an exact phonetic translation between onomatopoeias in Japanese and English. But there are ways to play on the sound, like how Carpenter mentioned pa pa pa could have been pop pop pop in translation, which I liked the sound of.

I like her analogy of how translation was like a coloring book – the lines are the same, but the colors may be different. Unlike the counterfeit analogy, where it is implied that the appearance of the work must be very similar/the same, the coloring book analogy acknowledges the different appearances of the work and suggests that the translator can choose the colors and add in minor elements as long as there is a valid reason. This description expresses the fun-ness of translation really well and I can feel her enjoyment of translation expressed in the text.

I was amazed that in her translation of A True Novel, she went through every line in the novel with the author; I didn’t realize that a translator and author could work this closely together. It was really helpful seeing the different drafts of the translation, with her translation, then the edited version, then a version after going through it with Mizumura. It shows the different roles the translator, editor, and author play in translation, and emphasizes the importance of running your translation by someone. 

Tiffany