DANCES WITH WORDS: ISSUES IN THE TRANSLATION OF JAPANESE LITERATURE INTO ENGLISH By Richard Ninian Donovan A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Literary Translation Studies Victoria University of Wellington 2012 2 Abstract Keywords: translation studies, literary translation, Japanese literature, linguistic analysis of literary texts, corpus studies, database, qualitative data analysis software (NVivo), stylistics, disambiguation, game theory Chapter One: Literary Translation Studies, Japanese-to-English Translation, and Izu no odoriko This introductory chapter explores aspects of Translation Studies relevant to Japanese- to-English literary translation. I employ extended metaphors from the case study, Kawabata Yasunari‘s novella Izu no odoriko, to re-illuminate perennial TS issues such as equivalence, ‗style‘ and disambiguation, contrasting the translating approaches of Edward G. Seidensticker and J. Martin Holman. The chapter concludes with an outline of the investigative path I followed in analysing the source text (ST) and comparing it with the target texts (TTs): the English translations. I explain the thesis‘s systematic corpus approach in using an NVivo database to establish a set of potentially problematic translation issues that arise out of the interaction of source language-target language (SL-TL) features. Chapter Two: A Taxonomy of Japanese Paradigmatic Features and the Issues Arising for Translation into English The Japanese and English languages have significant lexical and morpho-syntactic differences, which I contend give rise to potentially problematic translation issues. The chapter begins by differentiating cultural and linguistic features and explaining why the thesis will focus on the latter. The rest of the chapter presents a detailed analysis of ST exemplars of the most significant of the paradigmatic (lexical) features. Seidensticker and Holman‘s translations are analysed to determine how they have addressed the translation issues arising from these features. Chapter Three: A Taxonomy of Japanese Syntagmatic Features and the Issues Arising for Translation into English This chapter continues the analysis of linguistic differences between Japanese and English in the context of literary translation. Here the focus is on the syntagmatic (structural) features of Japanese in comparison with English, again examining examples from the ST and comparing how the translators address the issues arising in their translating decisions. 3 Chapter 4: „Shall We Dance?‟ Translation Acts in the English Translations of Izu no odoriko and Beyond The focus moves to the features of the translators‘ overall translation strategies, and how they apply these strategies in their translating decisions: so-called ‗translation acts‘. Conducting a close reading of the ST and TTs of a pivotal scene in Izu no odoriko, I draw on previous academics‘ frameworks to create a simple rubric for categorising the manifestation of these strategies at the discourse level. The chapter concludes by drawing together the theoretical and empirical strands of the thesis and demonstrating the relevance of this discussion to the English translation of Japanese literature. While acknowledging the necessarily subjective nature of the translational act, and the sophisticated techniques the translators employ to deal with complex issues, I propose that my analytic framework urges more care in the preservation of semantic and formal elements than can be observed in aspects of the translations examined. 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people for their contribution to this thesis: My supervisors, Stephen Epstein and Yushi Ito, for their insightful and good-humoured guidance through the sometimes rough and uncertain terrain. My sister, Sarah, for walking the path before me and smoothing it out a bit. My parents, Jo and Peter, who always provide a warm and welcoming haven at Pitfure for rest and reflection, hearty meals, and kind words. Charlie Fox, for his ebullient companionship and full-flowing discussion of translation issues (and other matters) at our local ‗inn‘. Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, for their active support of my travels for research and presentations. Masami Murata, who also helped to blaze the trail and kindly pointed out some signposts for me to follow. Bob and Wakana: for the books, bike rides and bonhomie. Jane and Rewiri, who gave me board, lodging and hospitality at the start of my journey in Wellington. Jon and Gemma, Anthony and Carrissa, who always give me a memorable send-off in Auckland. 03 Slow Café, my ‗teahouse at the pass‘ over many long Kyoto lunchtimes. And finally, I would like to acknowledge my constant travelling companions on the highways and shortcuts: Kawabata Yasunari, Edward G. Seidensticker, and J. Martin Holman. 5 Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 4 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ 5 Abbreviations and Textual Conventions .................................................................... 8 Reference Translations.............................................................................................. 10 Chapter One: Literary Translation Studies, Japanese-to-English Translation, and Izu no odoriko ..................................................................................................... 12 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................... 12 1.0.1 The field of Japanese-to-English Literary Translation Studies ............... 12 1.0.2 The objectives and limitations of the thesis ........................................... 26 1.0.3 Outline of the thesis .............................................................................. 30 1.1 Japanese-to-English Translation in the Context of Literary Translation Studies ................................................................................................................. 31 1.2 Highways and Shortcuts: Different Approaches to Translation ........................ 39 1.3 Dances with Girls: Cultural and Linguistic Issues in Translating Kawabata's Izu no odoriko.................................................................................... 54 1.4 The Quandary of Disambiguation in Japanese-to-English Literary Translation ........................................................................................................... 62 1.5 Case-study Translations and Analytical Methodology ..................................... 74 1.5.1 My translations ..................................................................................... 74 1.5.2 Categorisation of the ST-feature/TT-issue taxonomy ............................. 78 Chapter One Conclusion ...................................................................................... 83 6 Chapter Two: A Taxonomy of Japanese Paradigmatic Features and the Issues Arising for Translation into English ......................................................................... 85 2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................... 85 2.0.1 Cultural and linguistic features of language ........................................... 87 2.0.2 ST features ............................................................................................ 93 2.1 Paradigmatic Features..................................................................................... 94 2.1.1 Ambiguity ............................................................................................. 97 2.1.2 DIFFERENT LEXICAL IDENTITY ............................................................. 119 2.1.3 No Plural Marker ................................................................................ 163 2.1.4 Passive Voice ...................................................................................... 166 2.1.5 SOUND-SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE ............................................................. 174 2.1.6 VERB MORPHOLOGY ............................................................................ 194 Chapter Two Conclusion .................................................................................... 203 Chapter Three: A Taxonomy of Japanese Syntagmatic Features and the Issues Arising for Translation into English ....................................................................... 205 3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................. 205 3.1 Syntagmatic Features .................................................................................... 206 3.1.1 ANAPHORA .......................................................................................... 208 3.1.2 Clause Extent Marker 程 hodo ............................................................ 224 3.1.3 Double Subject; Topic and Subject ...................................................... 228 3.1.4 MULTI-CLAUSE SENTENCE ................................................................... 232 3.1.5 PREMODIFIER....................................................................................... 248 3.1.6 QUOTATIVE MARKER と to .................................................................