Somewhere in translation: (under)translating Japanese mimetics in English editions of manga

This thesis has two major purposes: (1) to identify and determine what the preferred translation methods are for Japanese mimetics in the official English translated version of the manga Azumanga Daiō, and (2) to investigate whether the translations of Japanese mimetics found in the the English edition of the manga sufficiently convey the sound-meaning correlations, which are established by previous studies. The thesis is divided as follows. First, a theoretical framework regarding the sound-meaning correlations of Japanese mimetics is provided. This is followed by the analysis, which consists of two parts. In the first part, the results of the quantitative analysis of Japanese mimetics and their translation methods are presented. The results show that giongo are often translated into equivalent sounds by using existing mimetics. Gitaigo and gijōgo, on the other hand, are usually translated into words that can be divided into multiple translation methods (hybrids). In the second...Show moreThis thesis has two major purposes: (1) to identify and determine what the preferred translation methods are for Japanese mimetics in the official English translated version of the manga Azumanga Daiō, and (2) to investigate whether the translations of Japanese mimetics found in the the English edition of the manga sufficiently convey the sound-meaning correlations, which are established by previous studies. The thesis is divided as follows. First, a theoretical framework regarding the sound-meaning correlations of Japanese mimetics is provided. This is followed by the analysis, which consists of two parts. In the first part, the results of the quantitative analysis of Japanese mimetics and their translation methods are presented. The results show that giongo are often translated into equivalent sounds by using existing mimetics. Gitaigo and gijōgo, on the other hand, are usually translated into words that can be divided into multiple translation methods (hybrids). In the second part, the qualitative analysis investigates whether the translations of the Japanese mimetics found in the English edition of the manga Azumanga Daiō are true to their original meaning. That is, whether they sufficiently convey the established sound-meaning correlations of their Japanese counterparts. The results show that in this manga, this is not always sufficiently done. Thus, the translations run the risk of missing nuances, resulting in loss or undertranslation.Show less

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Somewhere in translation: (under)translating Japanese mimetics in English editions of manga