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.
2022.
The 4th East Asian Translation Studies Conference (EATS4): On the Conflicting Universals in Translation: Translation as Performance in East Asia, Université Paris Cité, Campus des Grands Moulins, Paris, France 30 June–2 July 2022