Twelve Kingdoms: Interview with the Translator, More Wordplay

Kate:  In a lot of manga and light novels, I come across the use of “restraint” to token…I’m not sure.

I came across it initially in a light novel series. I figured it was translator’s choice, especially since the initial translator was obviously a Japanese speaker/writer translating Japanese to English. I assumed the translator went to the thesaurus and picked the wrong word: “If he isn’t done with just this restraint [show of disapproval], how will I protect Wataru in the future?”

But then I started to come across it in other translations in more grammatically correct contexts.

It is being used in a way that an English writer wouldn't do. If an English speaker wrote, “He is showing restraint,” the word would mean self-control, an absence of action.

But in the light novel and manga, “He makes this restraint” means almost an active action, a deliberate strategy, something like “sit back and watch you crash and burn while forcing you to live up to an expectation and, by the way, I’m withholding approval until I decide whether you succeeded…”

In other words, “The more restraint he gives us, the stronger we will become in reaction.”

Is the word “restraint” the English definition of a Japanese word that has no direct English substitute? When the translator goes to the thesaurus, how does the translator choose?

Eugene: In my Twelve Kingdoms translations, I've only used "restraint" three times in that context. So far in my Ranpo Edogawa translations, I've only used it in the "restraints" context (like restraining someone with a rope). Without the original text, it's hard to say what translation choices are being made, though the Japanese word that springs to mind is hikaeme.

There are some phrases that I have to be careful about overusing, sort of the opposite problem of getting carried away with creating synonyms for "said." A dialogue tag like "said" functions transparently. The reader ignores it unless it calls attention to itself. There must be words that are "transparent" in one language but not in another.

For example, Fuyumi Ono uses "nod" a lot. There's a lot of nodding in Japanese culture, to the extent that people joke about bowing while talking on the telephone with a superior. A reader once pointed out I was overusing "wry smile," though I was simply translating the same word the same way each time.

A linguist somewhere surely has written a dissertation on the subject.