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Human, This Ever-changing Creature: Oshiko’s Default Standard by Yukiko Motoya

As seen in the classical SF anime film Galaxy Express 999 (1979), relations between human and AIenhanced transhuman, and an AI-controlled dystopian society have always been popular in Japanese imagination. These relations can be confrontational, or alternatively, affectionate as sometimes depicted in shōjo manga. In the novel Oshiko’s Default Standard (Oshiko no deforuto in Japanese original) (2021) by Yukiko Motoya (1979-), however, there is no human-transhuman relations as such, as the story depicts the process of human rapidly transforming into AI-enhanced transhuman – in a seemingly dystopian society. Set in the post-crisis Japan, the novel focuses on an everyday-life sphere - child-rearing and nursery school - in a society in which co-prosperity with the AI had become the main national policy. The lessons at the nursery school aim to raise children with outstanding ”abilities to become homogenous”, as individual differences are now considered vulnerability rather than strength. Many professions have been taken over by white cube-shaped robots produced by a single company, and although there is no description of these robots actively controlling the society, people – especially children and youths - start idealizing them and imitating their functions through implanting devices in all body parts. Oshiko, the protagonist, is a mother of two and has adapted well to this society, in which everyone is connected to internet for 24hours/day and endlessly consume digitized content. The nature, including natural human feelings, has been tamed and trivialized to become mere ”undigitized” or ”raw” content for her. Through the close reading, the present paper analyses some of the issues this controversial novel raises, focusing on the possible changes AI-dominated society make on humans, including borders between normal and abnormal, connection with others and loss of individuality, shifting bodily senses, as well as the human essence which can only exist in the constant state of changes.

The present study analyses how the Western-Other in Moto Hagio’s original Japanese version of the graphic novel (manga) The Heart of Thomas (1975) is translated into English.

Translation of Japanese manga into English and other European languages became popular in the 1990s; however, modern shōjo (girls) manga began publication in Japan 40 years earlier in the 1950s. As critics point out, shōjo manga is a medium that traditionally reflected the dreams and problems of Japanese girls, which in turn influenced their understanding of the world. In the 1960s and early 1970s, when Japan was poor yet economic growth rapid, many shōjo stories took place in a Western setting because at that time, the West symbolised wealth. With no Japanese characters and often with much anachronism, these stories demonstrate the idealised Western-Other or Occidentalism. 

The Heart of Thomas is a story about adolescent boys in a boarding school in a small German town, and it served as the precursor to the establishment of the androgynous ”beautiful boy” prototype in shōjo culture. The work featured the Occidentalism that was prevalent in shōjo manga at the time, demonstrating a version of Europe translated into Japanese. 

40 years after its original publication, the work was translated into various European languages (French, English and Italian in 2012, 2013 and 2019 respectively).  The present study focuses on how this Western-Other constructed for Japanese girls in the 1970s was transferred for the modern Western readership. The source text elements which construct the exotic Europe – German terms transcribed in Japanese, anachronic European customs and institutions for example – are identified through close reading of the text.  Then the strategies used to translate these elements into English are analysed along with reader reception of target texts. Was the Western-Other constructed for Japanese girls more than 40 years ago translated into European languages as ”Us”, as one might expect? Or was it kept as exotic and alternate Europe, as someone else’s Other? How is Occidentalism in a classic Japanese shōjo manga received by Western readers? These are some of the questions discussed in the study. 

Several novels by Morimi Tomihiko (1979-) have been translated into other languages. However, readers of the original Japanese must wonder how such texts, heavy as they are in cultural associations, can be translated without losing the key elements that characterise the author’s works.   

Morimi is a prize-winning author of both essays and novels, many of which feature Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. His contemporary stories feature preposterous characters and settings that are rich in cultural reference. As well as realia, which represents both material culture and specific concepts (e.g., Mayoral 1999), and intertextuality, there is a wealth of cultural associations apparent from expressions, vocabulary, orthography, and classical verb and adjective conjugation. By carefully selecting these cultural elements, the author constructs a literary style that is reminiscent of modern Japanese literature from Taisho (1912-1926) and early Showa (1926-1989). His style also effectively creates a universe that exudes traditional Japanese aesthetic associations expressed by both cultural objects (e.g., food, art, music, decorative objects) and legendary beings (e.g., gods, monsters). Morimi’s abundant humour twists these associations: for example, he uses classical orthography and ancient vocabulary to describe trivial incidents, and he places traditional Japanese ornaments in unexpected settings. This serves to presuppose the diversity of Japanese cultural knowledge on the part of the reader.

The present study analyses both Morimi’s novel The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (2006), and its English translation. Comical and fantastical, it has two narrators: a male university student in Kyoto and his object of love kurokami no otome (“dark-haired maiden”), who recount various episodes to the readers while making full use of the cultural elements described above. It has been adapted into an animation film in 2017, which won an international award and possibly led to the translation of the novel. Its English translation was published in 2019 (translator: Emily Balistrieri) without any translator’s notes, which suggests use of other translation techniques for cultural elements. The study identifies the different types of cultural elements present in the source text while considering their literary effects and analyses how – and how often – they are translated into English.

Scanlation as Teaching Material for Japanese – English Translation

Hiroko Inose (Dalarna University, Sweden)

hin@du.se

Scanlation, or translation of Japanese manga by amateur fan translators is widely practiced, and it is made available online. Though it is deemed illegal by the publishers, it can be used in practical teaching of translation. The present study demonstrates three different ways of using scanlation (or imitation of its system) in teaching of Japanese-English translation. In all cases, it is important to first inform the students about the legally dubious status of the practice.

In the first case, mock scanlation was practiced – students in small groups were given different chapters of manga work to translate. Translation was uploaded in the learning platform, and students were required to comment on chapters translated by others. Although the work of manga to translate had been chosen by the teacher, team translation and importance of feedback from the readers was experienced, similar to that of fan translators. The second case is using scanlation for translation criticism – it is known that scanlation prefers culturally more loyal translation than the official translation of manga, and students who were given excerpt of original Japanese manga and its scanlation version were asked to comment on various translation strategies used, as well as to check the accuracy of translation. The third case is using scanlation works to write a BA thesis in Japanese studies (specialised in translation). Here, the students compared the scanlation and official translation of a manga work to the original version and compare different approaches to translation adopted by professional and amateur translators.   

The present paper provides an analysis of how the Other(s) in Moto Hagio’s original Japanese version of the graphic novel The Heart of Thomas (1975), which was written for Japanese girls, is translated in the 2012 translation by Thorn. 

Translation of Japanese manga into English and other European languages became popular in the 1990s; however, modern shōjo (girls) manga began publication in Japan 40 years earlier in the 1950s. As critics point out, shōjo manga is a medium that traditionally reflected the dreams and problems of Japanese girls, which in turn influenced their understanding of the world. In the 1960s and early 1970s, when Japan was poor yet economic growth rapid, many shōjo stories took place in a Western setting – for example, with the portrayal of English nobility – because at that time, the West symbolised wealth. With no Japanese characters and often with much anachronism, these stories demonstrate the idealised Western-Other or Occidentalism. 

Shōjo manga is also known to experiment with stereotypical gender norms and to explore all possible alternatives, which reflects the struggle of girls in Japanese society. One of the prototypes that developed from this tradition is the androgynous ”beautiful boy”, who can engage in amorous relationships with other men or, indeed, other “beautiful boys”. The essence of shōjo manga is compathy; here, however, the girl reader has the chance to enjoy the romantic, sometimes sexual, relationships as the Other – that is to say, not as either girl or woman, but as somebody who can enjoy the freedom of the absent male gaze.

The Heart of Thomas is a story about adolescent boys in a boarding school in a small German town. It featured the Occidentalism that was prevalent in shōjo manga at the time and served as the precursor to the establishment of the androgynous ”beautiful boy” prototype, its main theme being  boys’ amorous feelings for each other. Its first and currently only official translation into a European language (English) was published in 2012, almost 40 years after its original publication. This fact allows us to study how these elements – that is to say, Occidentalism and the “beautiful boy” – that were developed for Japanese girls in the 1970s were transferred for the modern Western readership. Through a close reading and analysis of translation problems and strategies, as well as reader reception, the Other(s) presented in the source and target texts will be discussed.     

The present paper discusses how various elements in shōjo manga (Japanese comics for girls) have been incorporated in works of Japanese contemporary literature. The connection between shōjo manga and literature was pointed out for the first time when the novel Kitchen by Yoshimoto Banana was published in 1987. This paper argues that this connection has developed further since then, focusing on one of the most active writers in contemporary Japanese literature, Miura Shion. The paper briefly introduces the genre shōjo manga and describes its connection with the novel Kitchen before analysing a short story and an essay by Miura Shion, focusing both on their motifs and styles, to identify elements influenced by shōjo manga.

En este artículo se analiza cómo varios elementos de shōjo manga (cómics japoneses para chicas) se han incorporado en las obras de literatura contemporánea japonesa. La conexión entre shōjo manga y la literatura se señaló por primera vez cuando la novela Kitchen de Yoshimoto Banana se publicó en 1987. La autora de este artículo argumenta que la conexión entre los dos géneros se sigue desarrollando desde entonces, tomando como ejemplo Miura Shion, una de las autoras más activas dentro de literatura japonesa contemporánea. El artículo introduce brevemente el género de shōjo manga y describe su conexión con la novela Kitchen, antes de analizar un cuento y un ensayo de Miura Shion, centrándose tanto en sus temas como en el estilo, para identificar los elementos que tienen influencia de shōjo manga.