De-Feminising Translation: Making Women Visible in Japanese Translation Hiroko Furukawa A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Literature and Creative Writing University of East Anglia October 2010 © This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that no quotation from the thesis, nor any information derived therefrom, may be published without the author’s prior, written consent. ABSTRACT When feminist translation is discussed, it tends to be proposing a feminising translation strategy to give women their own voice. My thesis, however, presents a de-feminising translation. This results from the over-feminising convention in Japanese literature, both original and translated. Female characters’ speech has been over-feminised despite the dissonance with real Japanese women’s language use, and the convention has reinforced and maintained gender ideology in Japanese society. My study offers theoretical description and a prescriptive approach. In the theoretical description, I offer empirical and statistical analyses to describe the over-feminising convention, which is a new contribution in this research area. I also investigate the history of the convention and its function in society from an ideological perspective, and then explore translation problems of the convention. The systematic explanation of the translation problems in relation to the over- feminising convention is also a new area of research in translation studies. The prescriptive approach is an attempt to integrate theories into practical translation by presenting an empirical de-feminising translation. Through my project, I have become aware that when western feminist theory is used in the Japanese context, we should adjust the idea to the recipient culture. Feminism, in the western sense, has not been widely accepted in Japanese culture and there is a danger in presenting a radical feminist translation. Having worked as a book editor in Tokyo, Japan, I am aware that most of the publishers cannot ignore the commercial side of the book business. Thus, if I translated a text with a radical feminist approach, it might not be accepted by the intended readership and this is not my aim. Therefore, the proposed strategy searches for the best balance between an academic approach and commercial acceptance. Table of Contents Acknowledgements iii Abbreviations iv List of Tables v Note on Japanese Names and the Romanization of Japanese Language vi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introductory Remarks 1 1.2 Over-Feminising in Literature 6 1.2.1 The History of Gendered Language in Literature 8 1.2.2 Women’s Language as a Political Product 11 1.2.3 Statistical Analyses of Over-Feminising Translation 18 1.3 Gender Ideology Reinforced by Over-Feminising 19 1.4 Translation Problems 28 1.4.1 Problems from a Reader-Response Theory Perspective 29 1.4.2 Problems from a Relevance Theory Perspective 33 1.5 De-Feminising Translation 44 1.5.1 What Can Polysystem Theory Explain? 47 1.5.2 How Can Theories Help Translators? 50 1.6 Limitations of this Thesis 51 1.7 Brief Synopsis of Chapters 53 Chapter 2 Over-Feminising in Japanese Literature 57 2.1 Emphasised Femininity in Japanese Translation and Fiction 57 2.2 Two Chief Features of Women’s Language in Translation and Fiction 67 2.3 ‘Doing Gender’ in Japanese Translation 73 Chapter 3 Gender Ideology Reinforced by Over-Feminising 81 3.1 Ideology, Language Ideology and Gender Ideology 81 3.1.1 Ideology 81 3.1.2 Language Ideology 83 3.1.3 Gender Ideology 86 3.2 The Implantation of Gendered Linguistic Norms in Literature: 89 Genbun-itchi 3.3 Futabatei’s Challenge to Gendered Linguistic Norms 100 i 3.4 The Influence of Male Interpretation of Female Speech 103 3.5 Stereotypical Femininity in Japanese Translation 108 3.6 Stereotypes 114 3.7 Women’s Language as Language Ideology 121 Chapter 4 Translation Problems 127 4.1 Feminism 127 4.2 Gender and Translation 129 4.2.1 Feminist Translation Strategies 131 4.3 Over-Feminising in Japanese Translation 137 4.4 Three Different Images of the Same Character 139 4.5 A Contradictory Figure in the Translation of a Feminist Novel 144 4.6 A Feminist Woman with a Given Feminine Language 154 4.7 Japanese Readers’ Response to Feminism 159 Chapter 5 De-Feminising Translation 170 5.1 Translation Strategies to Re-create an Appropriate Female Voice 170 5.2 De-Feminising Translation 178 5.2.1 Neutralisation with Polite Forms 178 5.2.2 Character Transformation Constructed by De-Feminising 186 5.3 De-Homogenising Translation 198 5.3.1 Three Different Characters with Different Femininity Levels 198 5.3.2 Ainsley’s Performance of ‘Doing Gender’ 216 Chapter 6 Conclusion 219 6.1 Introductory Remarks 219 6.2 Contributions of the Study to Translation Studies and Practical 221 Translation 6.3 Future Research Directions 230 Bibliography 234 Appendix 1 I Categories of Feminine Forms, Masculine Forms and Neutral Forms Appendix 2 V Questionnaires on Differences between Men’s and Women’s Language in Japanese ii Acknowledgement I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Professor Jean Boase-Beier for her invaluable support. Without her acute comments on my work, so much mental support, encouragement and patience, it would have been impossible to complete this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Gabrina Pounds, my second supervisor, for her helpful comments and such warm encouragement. I thank Dr. Valerie Henitiuk, who was my supervisor in the first year of my research, too. This thesis is also largely benefited from valuable advice through discussions with my friends in Literary Translation in the School of Literature and Creative Writing, Philip, Susanne, Clara, Lina, Antoinette and BJ. Sincere thanks are also due to Maria, Mayumi, and many other friends who shared both happy and difficult moments with me. I have been so lucky to be surrounded by such lovely friends throughout my PhD years. Thanks are due to the organisers of the following conferences and to the audiences of my presentations for their useful questions and encouraging comments: Translation Postgraduate Symposium ‘Translation: Theory and Practice’ (University of East Anglia, Feb 2008); 21st Canadian Association for Translation Studies (CATS) Annual Conference ‘Translation Theories and Practice: East Meets West’(University of British Columbia, Canada, May-Jun 2008); Nida School for Translation Studies 2008 (San Pellegrino Institute for Translation and Interpretation, Italy, Sep 2008); Japanese Studies’ Graduate Student Symposium ‘Japan Translates: Words between Languages from Classics to Hyperculture’ (University of California, Los Angeles, USA, Oct 2008); Annual Conference of the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) 2009 ‘The Art of Stylistics’ (Roosevelt Academy, the Netherlands, Jul-Aug 2009); and Annual Conference of the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) 2010 ‘The Language of Landscapes’ (University of Genoa, Italy, Jul 2010). Having organised an international postgraduate symposium at the University of East Anglia in March 2010, I realised the preciousness of having a chance to present my work. My argument has also been developed thanks to the feedbacks from the editor of Translation: Theory and Practice in Dialogue (Continuum 2010), Dr. Jeremy Munday and from the reviewers of the journals Norwich Papers and TTR (Traduction, Terminologie et Rédaction). Finally, my special thanks go to my family and my grandparents in heaven. Their invaluable encouragement and mental support made this work possible and enjoyable. iii Abbreviations BJD: Japanese translation of Bridget Jones’s Diary (by Kamei Yoshiko, 1998) EM: Emma (by Jane Austen, 1816) EM1: Japanese translation of Emma, Ema (by Shoko Harding, 1997) EM2: Japanese translation of Emma, Ema (by Kudo Masashi, 2000) EM3: Japanese translation of Emma, Ema (by Nakano Koji, 2005) EW: The Edible Women (by Margaret Atwood, 1969) EWJ: Japanese translation of The Edible Woman, Taberareru Onna (by Ōura Akio, 1996) MD: Mrs Dalloway (by Virginia Woolf, 1925) MD1: Japanese translation of Mrs Dalloway, Darouei Fujin (by Tomita Akira, 1955) MD2: Japanese translation of Mrs Dalloway, Darouei Fujin (by Kondo Ineko, 1976) MD3: Japanese translation of Mrs Dalloway, Darouei Fujin (by Tanji Ai, 1998) PP: Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen, 1813) PP1: Japanese translation of Pride and Prejudice, Koman to Henken (by Tomita Akira, 1950) PP2: Japanese translation of Pride and Prejudice, Jifu to Henken (by Nakano Yoshio, 1963) PP3: Japanese translation of Pride and Prejudice, Koman to Henken (by Nakano Koji, 2003) iv List of Tables Table 1 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p. 60 (BJD and Real Language Practices) Table 2 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p. 63 (Bridget, Sharon and Jude in BJD) Table 3 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p. 65 (BJD and Kicchin) Table 4 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p. 67 (Kicchin, BJD and Real Language Practices) Table 5 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p.105 (EM1, EM2 and EM3) Table 6 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p.106 (PP3, EM1, EM2 and EM3) Table 7 Percentage of Typical Feminine Forms ‘wa’ and ‘kashira’ p.110 in Strongly Feminine Forms (PP3, EM1, EM2 and EM3) Table 8 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p.150 (EWJ, BJD and Kicchin) Table 9 Use of Gendered Sentence-final Forms p.151 (EWJ, Emma and BJD) v Note on Japanese Names and the Romanisation of Japanese Language In this thesis, Japanese proper names are denoted with the family preceding the given name. The modified Hepburn system (Hebon-shiki) is used to romanise the Japanese language, and long vowels are marked with macrons (ā, ī, ū, ē, ō). vi Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introductory Remarks The argument of this thesis can be summarised under these four statements: (1) Women are over-feminised in Japanese literature.