Puns and beyond: translating the untranslatable.

Puns are yet another aspect of language that poses a formidable obstacle to the translator, who will probably have little choice other than to either ignore them or to add his own comment on the text:

"Kimi no na wa Nagano da ga, nani ni shite mo nagai hanashi datta naa."

(Shiokari toge, p.334)

(lit: "Your name is Naga-no (literally 'long-field') and it's certainly been a long story.")

In this case the authors add a footnote:

"Your name is Nagano, and it's been a long story."

(Shiokari Pass, p.245)

(footnote: 'One of the Japanese characters in the name Nagano means 'long'.')

On another occasion, however, we see an overt communication from the translators within the text. In this scene the main character is writing something, and when asked if it's a love letter, he replies that it's a love letter of sorts. Thereafter:

" Ja, dare da?" (So, who's it to, then?)

"Kami-sama da yo. " (It's to God ('kami-sama'))

"Kami-san? Doko no kami-san dai?" (Landlady (kami-san)? Landlady where?)

(Shiokari toge, p.307)

"It's to the Lord." And Nobuo used an expression which Mihori took to mean the 'landlady'.

"Some landlady! Where does she live?"

(Shiokari Pass, p.225)

Puns are virtually untranslatable because the phonological resemblance between sense segments whose referents are unconnected is unlikely to be reflected in another language. The translator may also struggle when the source language offers several distinct lexical items where only one exists in English. A familiar example is the important distinction between vous and tu in French, for which English can only offer you, but similar obstacles abound in Japanese:

"Kitto namae to iu mono ga suki ja nai'n darou ne. Boku wa boku de, kimi wa kimi de, wareware wa wareware de, karera wa karera de, sorede ii'n ja nai katte ki ga suru'n da."

" Wareware -tte kotoba suki da yo. Nandaka hyougajidai mitai na fun-iki ja nai?"

"Hyouga jidai?"

"Tatoeba, wareware ha minami ni utsurubeshi, toka, wareware wa manmosu o karu beshi, toka ne?"

(Hitsuji o meguru bouken vol 2., p.10)

(lit: "Basically I don't really like names. Me for me, you for you, we (wareware) for we (wareware), they for they, I feel as though that's enough."

"I do like the word 'we' (wareware). Has an Ice-Age feel, don't you think?"

"Ice Age?"

"Such as, 'we move south', or 'we hunt mammoth'.")

"Basically I can't see what's wrong with calling me 'me' or you 'you' or us 'us' or them 'them.'"

"Hmm," she said. "I do like the word 'we', though. It has an Ice Age ring to it."

"Ice age?"

"Such as 'We go south' or 'We hunt mammoth' or..."

(A Wild Sheep Chase, p.188)

The translator opts for a literal translation that perhaps fails to rationalize the second speaker's comments. To appreciate this text requires an understanding that Japanese offers numerous words, at varying levels of formality, that correspond with the English we. Wareware is a rather formal, emphatic expression, used to convey a strong sense of unity, hence common in public speaking and particularly in emphatic generalizations such as "We Japanese...". It lends a particular nuance that is entirely appropriate to the image of brave Ice Age hunters in fearless pursuit of mammoth. To substitute this with the English we, which does not have such connotations, seems to miss the original author's point. McCarthy (2000:22) reminds us that "the most carefully and beautifully constructed passage and character can, in a moment of impatience or thoughtlessness, be brought unceremoniously crashing down." Perhaps the effect here is not quite so catastrophic, but it is certainly likely that the character's dreamy, abstract logic will appear to English readers more like rambling nonsense. At the same time, however, it is perhaps unfair to dwell too long on such criticism if we cannot suggest a better alternative. As McCarthy (2000:20) also notes: "one can be in total disagreement with the choice of another translator and at the same time far from satisfied with one's own solution."

Another reminder that the job of the translator is not just a matter of matching words with objects appears in Shiokari Pass (p.25):

"Father, what are the chrysanthemum dolls like?"

And three lines later:

"Are they figures decorated with chrysanthemums, or are they real people dressed in chrysanthemums?"

The semantic content follows the original, but what the translation is unable to account for is the relative frequency of the Japanese kiku and the English chrysanthemum in the speech of young children. The chrysanthemum, like cherry blossoms, has a close association with the samurai, and is a prominent symbol in Japanese culture. Moreover, the simple, two-syllable kiku poses no more problems for pronunciation that does roses for an English-speaking child. However, when the English chrysanthemum is placed in the mouth of a young child, there is perhaps a danger that the translation will release meanings not intended by the original author (e.g. the child is especially well-educated, has a larger than average vocabulary, etc.).

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