Translation of (Sub)cultural Elements in Murata Sayaka’s Dystopia: The Earthlings
Hiroko Inose (Dalarna University, Sweden)
hin@du.se
The present paper focuses on a novel by Murata Sayaka (1979-), The Earthlings (Chikyū Seijin), published in 2018, and its English translation. Since the publication of Convenience Store Woman (Kombini Ningen, 2016), which was an international success, Murata has written a number of novels and short stories, although not many of her works have been translated into English, The Earthlings being an exception. Themes related to dystopian reality in which contemporary Japanese women live appear consistently throughout her works. A stark sense of alienation, together with the difficulty of communicating with others, the presence of a surveillance society, the inability to conform to violently imposed gender norms (essentially the pressure to procreate), together with the struggle for survival, are just some of the themes explored.
In creating her dystopia, Murata mixes typical elements in Western dystopian literature (e.g. totalitarian and controlling society) and Japanese subcultural elements, especially related to shōjo manga (e.g. pseudo-family, magical girls…). While the former would be familiar for the readers of the English version, the latter can pose challenges in translation because of the cultural connotations. The present paper identifies examples of both types of elements in the original source text, and analyses how the latter types of elements especially are translated into English. It also analyses paratext including book reviews both by critics and readers, in an attempt to see how these elements have been interpreted in the original and the translation.
2024.
30 éves a KRE Japanológia Tanszék. 30 years of the Department of Japanese Studies, KRE. Fordítás a 21. században. Fókuszban a japánról és japánra fordítás Translation in the 21st Century. Focus on Translation from and into Japanese. Károli Gáspár University, Budapest, Hungary, 2024-10-24